To Save and to Destroy

An essential addition for collections about the process and theory of writing, authors of diverse backgrounds, and particularly the experiences of Asian Americans, immigrants, and refugees in the United States. -- Rebecca Brody * Library Journal (starred review) * One of contemporary American fiction’s most fearless writers of conscience…explores the idea of the outsider in literature. * Literary Hub * Seamlessly weaves together personal reflections and literary analysis…thought-provoking and cogently argued. * Publishers Weekly * A provocative exploration of the writer as storyteller, anthropologist, and knowing outsider. * Kirkus Reviews * A profound exploration of identity, displacement, and the burdens of belonging from one of the most important voices in contemporary literature. Nguyen brilliantly weaves together personal history with literary criticism and political commentary to confront the complexities of race, power, and solidarity in America. This is essential reading. -- Reza Aslan, author of <i>Zealot</i> and <i>An American Martyr in Persia</i> Viet Thanh Nguyen offers insight into how we can form allegiances beyond racial identity to global solidarities built from shared struggles against colonialism. As we now face the precipitous erosion of American democracy, Nguyen's incendiary and generous intellect is more necessary than ever. -- Cathy Park Hong, author of <i>Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning</i> Brilliant, rigorous, and generous, To Save and to Destroy is part autobiography, part criticism, and wholly illuminating. A dazzling feat from one of today’s great writers and thinkers. -- R. O. Kwon, author of <i>Exhibit</i>