Lucky Child (44 page)
Authors: Loung Ung
“My Cambodia today is beautiful, even as it continues to recover from the killing fields.”
Reprinted by permission from the
New York Times.
Food, Good Food!
Loung Ung’s Favorite Restaurants
I
LOVE TO EAT
. Be it at my home, friends’ homes, restaurants, ball games, or carnivals—anywhere and everywhere—I love to eat. Sadly, I was not born with any cooking skills. I am, however, blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people like my sister-in-law Eang, my sister Chou, brothers Khouy and Kim, and friends like Susan Bachurski, Jim Trengrove, Sophie Wright, and Gail Griffith who are as fabulous in the kitchen as they are elsewhere in life. And more important, they never seem to mind feeding me when I show up at their front doors.
For all you foodies out there, here are a few of my favorite restaurants and eateries in America. Check them out if you’re in the area.
Boston, Massachusetts. Every time I’m in Boston I try to get to the Elephant Walk (
http://www.elephantwalk.com/main.htm
).This fusion French-Cambodian restaurant serves some of the freshest food I’ve ever tasted—and the décor is lovely enough to be a date place. I like their French stuff, but it’s the Cambodian dishes that I really go for. If you’re in the mood for something special, order their Somah Machou sweet-and-sour shrimp soup or their Cambodian signature dish Amok Royal.
“This fusion French-Cambodian restaurant serves some of the freshest food I’ve ever tasted—and the décor is lovely enough to be a date place.”
Seattle, Washington. The atmosphere is casual and the food is authentic and delicious. If you’re in the area don’t miss
the Phnom Penh Noodle House on 660 S. King Street, Seattle, WA 98104-2938; (206) 748–9825.If I lived in the area I would have their number on speed dial. For a true taste of Cambodia order the Chha Khreoung—a dish made of a mixture of lime leaves, garlic, tumeric root, galangal, and lemongrass.
Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland is my new hometown. When I’m not on the road I can usually be found sitting at my favorite table at Phnom Penh Restaurant (
http://www.ohiorestaurant.com/
). The owners are newly immigrated Cambodians who serve very authentic Khmer food. Everything is great, but make sure you try their Cambodian Crepe (Banh Cheiv).If you’re not in the mood for Asian food visit McNulty’s Bier Market in Cleveland’s hip new West Twenty-fifth Street district (
www.bier-markt.com/or216-344-9944
). I lobbied the owners hard about serving fried crickets with their Belgian beers but unfortunately they didn’t go for it. Don’t be surprised if you see me behind the bar serving drinks. I get free food for working there.“I lobbied the owners hard about serving fried crickets with their Belgian beers.”
Washington, D.C. There are so, so many fabulous restaurants here, but my all-time favorite is Thaiphoon in Dupont Circle (
www.thaiphoon.com/
). When I lived in D.C. I ate there four or five times a week. No kidding! Their Drunken Noodles is my absolute favorite!Los Angeles, California. I admit I am biased on this one. My brother Kim is a wonderful cook and baker specializing in French pastries. Whenever I visit him in L.A. he sends me home with Tupperware and bags full of French baguettes, little cakes, and other goodies. If you want to try my brother Kim Ung’s delicious food, visit him at his store: Max Bakery, 4233 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90304.
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FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER
Loung Ung’s
First They Killed My Father
is an unforgettable narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the remarkable strength of a small girl and her family, and a triumph of human spirit over oppression. Loung Ung, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official, lived in Phnom Penh until the age of five. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung’s family fled their home and moved from village to village—hiding their identity, their education, and their former life of privilege. Eventually the family dispersed in order to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, while other siblings were sent to labor camps. As the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and destroyed the Khmer Rouge, Loung and her surviving siblings were slowly reunited. Bolstered by the bravery of one brother, the vision of the others, and the gentle kindness of her sister, Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.
“There can be absolutely no question about the innate power of [Ung’s] story, the passion with which she tells it, or its enduring importance.”
—
Washington Post Book World
“Both stories—Loung’s, told in her own voice, and Chou’s, narrated in the third person—are inherently fascinating and are recounted with a vividness and immediacy that make them even more so…. Written with an engaging vigor and directness,
Lucky Child
is an unforgettable portrait of resilience and largeness of spirit.”
—
Los Angeles Times
“Deeply stirring… heartbreaking, and not less than brilliant.”
—
Miami Herald
“[Ung] captured my heart….
Lucky Child
is captivating, deep, and delightful.”
—
Chicago Tribune
“At once elegiac and clear-eyed, this moving volume is a tribute to the path not taken.”
—
Vogue
“Ung is a masterful storyteller whose fresh, clear prose shimmers with light and sorrow. Her stories are of the heroism and resilience of ordinary people beset by extraordinary tragedies.
Lucky Child
not only shares the stories of two sisters but also resonates to all of our stories in a world that, like Ung’s family, is divided between the lucky and the unlucky.”
—Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author
of Reviving Ophelia:
Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
“Lucky Child
is a tender, searing journey of two sisters, two worlds, two destinies. It is about the long-term consequences of war—how it changes everything, annihilates, uproots, and separates families. And it is about how humans triumph—building lives wherever they land and finding their way back to each other.” —Eve Ensler, author of
The Vagina Monologues
“Heartrending and eloquent…. A moving reminder of human resiliency and the power of family bonds.”
—
Newsweek
“The genocide and subjugation of millions of Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge have been well documented….
Lucky Child
is a reminder that each of those terrible losses was suffered individually…. While [Ung] writes convincingly of terror, death, and loss—her account of the death of a young cousin in Cambodia is heartbreaking—even more fresh and perceptive are her observations of everyday life. When she looks in the mirror, she craves to see her family members, dead and alive, but ‘we do not have a single picture of them and my face is now the only image I have to remember them by’ [A] fiercely honest and affecting memoir.”
—
Seattle Times
“Remarkable….
Lucky Child
is part adventure, part history, and, in large, part love story about family. The Ungs’ tenacity and enduring kindness testify to the very best of human nature. After surviving ‘the worst kind of inhumanity,’ the Ungs remain human.”
—
Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Ung brings third and first world disparities into discomforting focus and gracefully dramatizes the metaphorical joining together of her haunted past and her current identity as a privileged Cambodian American. When the narratives fuse at the sisters’ long-awaited reunion, their clasping of hands throws wide the floodgates to tamped-down memories—a cathartic release that readers will tearfully, gratefully share.”
—
Booklist
(starred review)
“This book is alternately heart-wrenching and heartwarming, as it follows the parallel lives of Loung Ung and her closest sister, Chou, during the fifteen years it took for them to reunite.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“Many recent books have told the tale of genocide and survival, but, in
Lucky Child,
Loung Ung has given us a book as unusual as it is heartbreaking—the story of a family torn in two after genocide…. Loung has managed to follow
First They Killed My Father
with a book every bit as gripping and important, and she has given us a unique glimpse into America’s melting pot—a melting pot born of indescribable suffering but brimming with irrepressible life.”
—Samantha Power, author
of “A Problem from Hell”:
America and the Age of Genocide
“Vivid prose…. Ung imparts freshness to a fairly familiar immigrant’s tale…. A moving story of transition, transformation, and reunion.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“Lucky Child
is a painful yet lyrical story of the lengths to which one family will go to protect its own. Ung offers a devastating look at the enormous global effects of political oppression. Yet for all the sadness in her personal story,
Lucky Child
is also a soaring tale of human spirit.”
—
BookPage
“Loung Ung’s
Lucky Child
is a rich narrative that explores the ravages of war and the strength of family bonds…. Powerful and moving…
Lucky Child
is far too relevant to our own time.”
—Amnesty International
“As piercing and poignant as its title,
Lucky Child
is the remarkable account of two sisters divided by history and riven by tragedy, and the journey which made one an American who would not forget her homeland, or the kin she left behind. It is we who are lucky that Loung Ung is such a gifted writer, and that she has chosen to share her story.”
—Richard North Patterson, author of
Balance of Power
“I encourage everyone to read this deeply moving and very important book. Equal to the strength of the book is the woman who wrote it. She is a voice for her people and they are lucky to have her.”
—Angelina Jolie, Goodwill Ambassador for the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees