Reviewed by Vu H. Pham | Reviews | Journal of American Ethnic History, 27.1

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Reviewed by Vu H. Pham | Reviews | Journal of American Ethnic History, 27.1 | The History Cooperative

Reviews

*The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation: Stories of War, Revolution, Flight, and New Beginnings*. Edited by Sucheng Chan. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006. xvii + 323 pp. Notes, bibliography, and index. $74.50 (cloth); $25.95 (paper).
Sucheng Chan's groundbreaking book boldly addresses issues within Asian American Studies that remain largely ignored or avoided. The book may focus on Vietnamese Americans, yet it poignantly and explicitly reflects upon Asian American Studies as a field of study. Chan addresses the field's tensions between capitalism and Communism and between pedagogy and politics—all while highlighting the complexities of Vietnamese American experiences.	1
Chan tackles these complexities by presenting edited versions of student family histories, autobiographies, and interviews written by Vietnamese Americans of the 1.5 generation. The 1.5 generation includes those born in Vietnam who came to the United States during their youth. Chan provides several chapters of history about Vietnam and Vietnamese Americans as context for these student-authored narratives.	2
The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation features Chan's frank discussion about the political underpinnings of Asian American Studies and how it often elides, conflicts with, or even overshadows the experiences and perceptions of Vietnamese Americans. She states that the anti-establishment and anti-capitalist stances of early Asian American Studies proponents often turned away more conservative student views, such as those held by strongly anti-Communist Vietnamese Americans.	. . .

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