The Book of Perceptions

the long version

Poetry. Asian American Studies. This lavishly produced book includes poems by Truong Tran and black-and-white photographs of Vietnam by Chung Hoang Chuong. Tran's work explores the duality of being Vietnamese American and the fragmentation of the self as a result of this dual existence. Chuong, the director of the Vietnamese American Studies Center at San Francisco State University, has added elegant photographs that still perfectly echo Tran's concerns. the other as perceived is language or the loss of other as/ place stranger country beloved the other when deciphered/ is but the self intently saying in loving you I lose myself. A portion of the proceeds from the book will benefit Huong Viet Community Center.