Too young to have direct memory of the Viet Nam War, Edith Shillue went to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in 1993 from her native Massachusetts to work as a university lecturer in English and American history. This book is a lively rendering of her experiences there and in Nam Ha Province in northern Viet Nam, where she later taught in village schools. Her memoir provides sharp observation and thoughtful commentary on today's Vietnam.