The Metamorphosis, The Importance of Being Ernest, The Iliad, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and others. The memoir organizes each chapter around a book that had powerful meaning for Tran. He also introduces Tran to the public library, which will become an essential part of his self-education. Tran’s father insists on his son’s place on the school honor role, sacrifices his training as a lawyer to work in a tire factory in Carlisle, and is prone to violent outbursts. Vietnamese meant non-American.” A quest that means survival for Tran, who takes guidance where he can find it: pop culture, punk music, and books. We follow his quest to fit in, because as he writes, “Vietnamese got me teased. We watch his awareness grow: the awareness of his difference from others, how his parents interact with their adopted homeland, the prejudices carried by neighbors and institutions, and the simple and powerful kindness of strangers.

(The latter come with violent consequences if disobeyed.) He navigates the unforgiving demands of finding friends along with the strict standards imposed by his parents. From running from the police on skateboards to losing himself in the stacks of a library. From stealing Topps trading cards to publishing an essay in the school paper on racism in his town. The book takes us through Tran’s formative years. What is his name? Not his Vietnamese name, but his English one? What follows is a vivid, humorous, and raw account of coming to the United States as an immigrant and the long journey of finding his place. It’s here, in this unfamiliar country, that this coming-of-age memoir begins with a child’s question to his parents. Phuc Tran’s memoir Sigh, Gone tells a coming-of-age story through the lens of books, music, and American culture.ĭuring the fall of Saigon in 1975, Phuc Tran’s family evacuates and begins a journey that brings them to the small town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Sigh gone