Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

Catfish and Mandala is a memoir by Andrew X. Pham that interweaves a solo bicycle journey around the Pacific Rim with the story of his life. Born in Vietnam and raised in California, Pham embarks on a year-long cycling odyssey following his sister's suicide, traveling through the Mexican desert, on a loop from Narita in South Korea to Kyoto in Japan, and eventually to Saigon after covering 2,357 miles over five months. The narrative explores Pham's family history, including his father's experience as a Vietcong POW and his family's arrival in America as boat people. Throughout his journey, Pham grapples with questions of belonging—mistaken for Japanese or Korean in Vietnam, and not considered American in the United States. The book combines travelogue with memoir, examining themes of war, escape, family secrets, and the search for cultural identity. Winner of the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize and the Whiting Writers' Award. Named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a Seattle Post-Intelligencer Best Book of the Year.