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Article: OUT OF WHOLE CLOTH; From his grandfather's tales of love and treachery in the last royal court of Vietnam, Kien Nguyen has woven a first novel almost as harrowing as his own life's story.(VARIETY)(TALKING VOLUMES)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- November 24, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John Habich; Staff Writer
When he was 8 years old, Kien Nguyen watched from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon as the helicopter coming to lift his family to safety exploded in midair. His mother's mansion was looted and seized by the Communists. At 13, he nearly drowned trying to escape Vietnam with a group of boat people, and spent two months in a prison cell after he was washed up on the beach at Cam Ranh Bay.
He moved to New York City a week after arriving in the United States in 1985, with no mastery of English. Unable to find a job after he finished college five years later, he eked out a living on the streets by drawing $2 portraits. A psychic who ...