The Gangster We Are All Looking For

Le Thi Diem Thuy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For is a story of a Vietnamese family who came to America to start a brand new life. Thuy takes me back to the good old days when I first stepped my foot in America. Eating alone at school lunch table hoping to blend in with the rest of the kids. Although we live in America, the images of Viet Nam will always remain in our mind. That is how the story being told. Thuy shifts back and forth from her current life to those moments in Vietnam. Actually stories are told out of order and quite hard to comprehend. All of a sudden, her mother came into their lives. The relationship between the parents is quite interesting and her father is such a character. Suddenly she skips to twenty years later being a writer. At 16 she ran away and the story of her brother drowning. Many stories are being told but none of them are delved into details. The narrator herself is not too exciting. She did not open up a whole lot. For instance, the only relationship she had was once she was a little kid. The boy touched her breast and they heard some footsteps so they ran away. I guess she doesn’t want to go into her private life. Anyway, I do give prop to Thuy for writing this novel. It’s absolutely rare to see a Vietnamese American writer.