My Documents - by Kevin Nguyen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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).

"Comically macabre . . . Nguyen [is] a stellar satirist who takes bold imaginative risks."--The New York Times (Editors' Choice)

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, THE NEW YORKER, ESQUIRE

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.

Review Quotes

"Nguyen's barbed social commentary convincingly depicts a dystopian America that's both distinct from and similar to the country we know today . . . Mỹ Documents is a timely and intermittently chilling reimagining of history."--The Washington Post

"The land of the free is also the land of the incarcerated, the detained, the interned. In that sense, Kevin Nguyen has written a very American novel indeed."--The New York Times

"In My Documents (One World), Kevin Nguyen invents a dystopian alternative future that hews increasingly close to the actual present. . . . Family, loyalty, and survival are in play here, as is the terrifying fragility of our modern lives."--The Boston Globe

"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."--Rolling Stone, "10 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2025"

"Timely and important . . . Nguyen's characters feel full and real and his prose is quickly captivating. It's a powerful commentary on the use of language as propaganda, including the narratives we tell about people without power."--USA Today

"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

"With relatable characters and abundant wit, Nguyen draws us into his state-of-the-art labyrinth, the startling sum of our Asian American fears. You'll never think of the acronym AAPI the same way again."--Ed Park, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Same Bed, Different Dreams

"The book lays bare how love, ambition, and ethics often muddle the story--and just how high the stakes are for getting it right."--Jenny Xie, author of Holding Pattern and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree

"From an editor at The Verge, Kevin Nguyen's second novel is the timely and satirical Mỹ Documents, a speculative tale of Vietnamese assimilation and ambition."--Our Culture

"In Nguyen's second novel, four Vietnamese Americans' lives are upended when violent attacks across America create a national panic . . . this book promises to be both a timely read and reminiscent of this country's not too distant past."--Literary Hub, "Most Anticipated Books of 2025"

"A memorable, unsettling reminder that both the conditions we allow and the ways in which we resist are crucial sides of the American story."--BookPage

"A disturbing page-turner and a powerful look at American racism."--Kirkus Reviews

"Intelligent and chilling novel. . . . an emotional roller coaster."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Kevin Nguyen is the author of the novel New Waves. He is the features editor at The Verge and was previously a senior editor at GQ. He lives in Brooklyn.