PositiveThe RumpusThough the novel begins with an emergency evacuation and the fall of Saigon, much of its action takes place on American soil. Yet Americans deliberately appear mostly as backdrop characters. By deliberately transforming the American characters into 'the Others' and subjecting them and their assumptions to cross examination, Nguyen is subverting the idea of 'the Other' ... Nguyen’s novel works to disorient, or reorient, audiences who have identified with a master narrative that has long gone unquestioned or disputed.
