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Thi Bui was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as a child. She studied art and law and thought about becoming a civil rights lawyer, but became a public school teacher instead. She lives in Berkeley with her son, her husband, and her mother. The Best We Could Do is her first graphic novel.
How much of ME is my own and how much is stamped into my blood and bone, predestined? Posed at the end of Thi Bui's graphic memoir, this is the persistent, yearning question underlying this quietly heartbreaking book. Thi Bui chronicles her family's journey from Vietnam to America, as well as her own transformation from daughter to mother. Stunningly self-assured, this is epic, intimate history rendered in understated words and images -- Kate Tuttle, Vulture In The Best We Could Do, Bui poignantly depicts her parents' journey and struggle from war-torn Vietnam in comic form-and it's one book you can't miss. Medium This is a stunning graphic novel that is not only enjoyable but important. It's a memoir about Thi's story of immigration, family, and hardship. It is a book that proves yet again how powerful the graphic novel medium can be in creating empathy and understanding. Tillie Walden, author of On a Sunbeam' In telling the story of her childhood in the U.S. and, later, the birth of her son, Bui explores her relationship with her mother and father, reflecting on how their experiences shaped them as individuals. The Chicago Reader online ...a cinematic epic, following several generations through the travails of immigration and emotional dislocation. PBS NewsHour Online The book delves as much into her family's history as it does Vietnam's; traumatic things her parents had seen as children and young adults in the years before and during the war... For now, she's reconciled her story with her parents' - and she says hopes her book can provide a starting point for others to do the same. All Things Considered, NPR
