The nearly 20-year-long Vietnam War inspired records, musicals, films and many, many books –almost all from the vantage point of Americans. While many of these works have been used to define the war, few have included Vietnamese perspectives. Enter Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut novel, “The Sympathizer.” Born in Vietnam and raised in the U.S., Nguyen begins with the high drama of Saigon’s fall to tell the story of a former South Vietnamese Army captain-turned-Viet Cong spy caught between many worlds as he begins a new life in Los Angeles. What follows is a combination “thriller and social satire” and “absurdist tour de force that might have been written by a Kafka or Genet,” writes The New York Times.

Read an excerpt of “The Sympathizer” below and catch Viet Thanh Nguyen on The Kojo Nnamdi Show on Wednesday, May 6.