To Save and to Destroy
To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other is a 2025 essay collection by Pulitzer Prize–winning Vietnamese American writer and professor Viet Thanh Nguyen. It was published by Belknap Press, an imprint of Harvard University Press.[1] BackgroundThe book is an "edited compilation" of the six Norton Lectures which Viet had delivered to Harvard University from 2023–2024.[2] Viet had drafted the lectures, while in Paris, during the preceding summer.[3] Its release, on April 8, 2025, coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and specifically Black April.[4] Between the second and third Norton Lecture, the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel happened, prompting Viet "to address that and all of its consequences" by writing an argument establishing solidarity between Palestinians and Asian Americans: "I felt like there was an organic relationship for me to Palestinian thought and anti-colonial thinking that was deeply tied into the Vietnam War and to me becoming an American."[3] Excerpts of the lectures were published in LitHub days after its release.[5][6] Lectures
Critical receptionPublishers Weekly stated that "The entries are consistently thought-provoking and cogently argued. This will leave readers with plenty to chew on."[7] Kirkus Reviews called it "A provocative exploration of the writer as storyteller, anthropologist, and knowing outsider." May-lee Chai, writing for Star Tribune, lauded Viet's humor, as well as the strength of his family stories and his adroitness as a storyteller.[8] R. O. Kwon called the book "Brilliant, rigorous, and generous... part autobiography, part criticism, and wholly illuminating. A dazzling feat from one of today's great writers and thinkers."[9] Rebecca Brody, for Library Journal, found it "essential" in its discussions of craft, diversity, and diasporic experiences.[10] References
|
||||||||||||
