The Gangster We Are All Looking For

Have you ever felt adrift between two worlds, struggling to find where you belong? This lyrical summary explores the profound experience of a Vietnamese family rebuilding their lives in America, seen through the eyes of a young girl haunted by a past she can barely remember. Discover how fragmented memories, family secrets, and the ghost of a lost brother shape her identity. You'll learn how the weight of war and the hope of a new beginning create a powerful, unforgettable story of displacement, resilience, and the search for home in a foreign land.

Lê Thi Diem Thúy is an acclaimed Vietnamese American writer whose debut novel, The Gangster We Are All Looking For, earned a PEN/Beyond Margins Award. A former refugee who fled Vietnam by boat with her father, Thúy draws upon her own powerful experiences of displacement, memory, and resettlement to inform her evocative and deeply personal storytelling. Her background as a celebrated solo performance artist also shapes her unique, lyrical prose, giving voice to the complex journey of identity and belonging.