SUCH A LOVELY WAR by Marcelino Troung

I just read Such a Lovely War by Marcelino Troung, set in Vietnam from 1961 to 1963. Based upon his personal remembrances, later conversations with his father, and the news from that time, Troung tells the story, from his unique viewpoint, the beginnings of the Vietnam War, a time when his father is called back from the Vietnamese embassy, and the family's comfortable life in the U.S., to be President Diem's interpreter. By switching back and forth between telling his story and explaining the events from his adult viewpoint we get a first hand account of life in Saigon at the time, the workings of the inner government circle and how those events effected Vietnam, its people, and his family. Really good stuff.
- Paul