My Documents

A Novel

De: Kevin Nguyen

Narrado por: Kelly Marie Tran

The paths of four family members diverge drastically when the U.S. government begins detaining Vietnamese Americans, in this “rich, gripping novel that lands squarely as a mirror of our contemporary moral squalor” (Los Angeles Times).

“Funny, powerful, and propulsive . . . a moving portrait of the kind of people we become when we are trying to survive.”—Cathy Park Hong, New York Times bestselling author of Minor Feelings

Ursula, Alvin, Jen, and Duncan grew up as cousins in the sprawling Nguyen family. As young adults, they’re on the precipice of new ventures: Ursula as a budding journalist in Manhattan, Alvin as an engineering intern for Google, Jen as a naïve freshman at NYU, and Duncan as a promising newcomer on his high school football team. Their lives are upended when a series of violent, senseless attacks across America creates a national panic, prompting a government policy that pushes Vietnamese Americans into internment camps. Jen and Duncan are sent with their mother to Camp Tacoma while Ursula and Alvin receive exemptions.

Cut off entirely from the outside world, forced to work jobs they hate, Jen and Duncan try to withstand long, dusty days in camp and acclimate to life without the internet. That is, until Jen discovers a way to get messages to the outside. Her first instinct is to reach out to Ursula, who sees this connection as a chance to tell the world about the horrors of camp—and as an opportunity to bolster her own reporting career in the process.

Informed by real-life events, from Japanese incarceration to the Vietnam War and modern-day immigrant detention, Kevin Nguyen’s novel gives us a version of reality only a few degrees away from our own. Moving and finely attuned to both the brutalities and mundanities of racism, Mỹ Documents is a strangely funny and touching portrait of American ambition, fear, and family. The story of the Nguyens is one of resilience and how we return to one another, and to ourselves, after tragedy.

©2025 Kevin Nguyen (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“As another Trump administration kicks into gear, there may be no better, or scarier, work to consider than Kevin Nguyen’s second novel, which sees the U.S. government set up internment camps for Vietnamese Americans. The four Nguyen cousins, Alvin, Ursula, Duncan and Jen, are young adults ready to take the next steps in their lives and careers. But when are some are imprisoned, and others not, the group is forced to contend with the cold realities of naked racism.”—Rolling Stone, “10 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2025”

"The word ‘Mỹ’ is the Vietnamese word for ‘America,’ and its messy connection with personal possession and subjectivity isn’t lost in this rich, gripping novel that lands squarely as a mirror of our contemporary moral squalor.”—Los Angeles Times

“Following terrorist attacks, the US government begins interning Vietnamese Americans in Kevin Nguyen’s trenchant and quick-witted exploration of racism, ambition, and family ties.”—Vanity Fair

A concept of a plan for a novel

Interesting premise, but very little development of a story, Characters are predictable stereotypes of young people.