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My Documents: A Novel Audiobook
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The paths of four family members diverge drastically when the U.S. government begins detaining Vietnamese Americans, in this sharp and touching novel about coming of age at the intersection of ambition and assimilation.
“Funny, powerful, and propulsive . . . a moving portrait of the kind of people we become when we are trying to survive.”—Cathy Park Hong, New York Times bestselling author of Minor Feelings
Ursula, Alvin, Jen, and Duncan grew up as cousins in the sprawling Nguyen family. As young adults, they’re on the precipice of new ventures: Ursula as a budding journalist in Manhattan, Alvin as an engineering intern for Google, Jen as a naïve freshman at NYU, and Duncan as a promising newcomer on his high school football team. Their lives are upended when a series of violent, senseless attacks across America creates a national panic, prompting a government policy that pushes Vietnamese Americans into internment camps. Jen and Duncan are sent with their mother to Camp Tacoma while Ursula and Alvin receive exemptions.
Cut off entirely from the outside world, forced to work jobs they hate, Jen and Duncan try to withstand long, dusty days in camp and acclimate to life without the internet. That is, until Jen discovers a way to get messages to the outside. Her first instinct is to reach out to Ursula, who sees this connection as a chance to tell the world about the horrors of camp—and as an opportunity to bolster her own reporting career in the process.
Informed by real-life events, from Japanese incarceration to the Vietnam War and modern-day immigrant detention, Kevin Nguyen’s novel gives us a version of reality only a few degrees away from our own. Moving and finely attuned to both the brutalities and mundanities of racism, Mỹ Documents is a strangely funny and touching portrait of American ambition, fear, and family. The story of the Nguyens is one of resilience and how we return to one another, and to ourselves, after tragedy.
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"As another Trump administration kicks into gear, there may be no better, or scarier, work to consider than Kevin Nguyen’s second novel, which sees the U.S. government set up internment camps for Vietnamese Americans. The four Nguyen cousins, Alvin, Ursula, Duncan and Jen, are young adults ready to take the next steps in their lives and careers. But when are some are imprisoned, and others not, the group is forced to contend with the cold realities of naked racism."
— Rolling Stone, “10 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2025”
Quotes
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Mỹ Documents is a sharp, riveting story of a Vietnamese American detention camp set in an alternate future. Funny, powerful, and propulsive, the novel skewers capitalism and the hypocrisies of journalism that lull rather than activate our attention to the vulnerable. But ultimately, Mỹ Documents is a moving portrait of the kind of people we become when we are trying to survive.
— Cathy Park Hong, bestselling author of Minor Feelings -
Drawing from the past to portray a reality that feels terrifyingly possible, Mỹ Documentsenthralls and unsettles with every page. This was a relentlessly propulsive read, by turns wry and wise, barbed with dark humor. Through one family’s struggle to survive and speak truthfully about their experiences, the book lays bare how love, ambition, and ethics often muddle the story—and just how high the stakes are for getting it right.
— Jenny Xie, two-time National Book Award finalist & author of Holding Pattern -
Drawing from the past to portray a reality that feels terrifyingly possible, Mỹ Documentsenthralls and unsettles with every page. This was a relentlessly propulsive read, by turns wry and wise, barbed with dark humor. Through one family’s struggle to survive and speak truthfully about their experiences, the book lays bare how love, ambition, and ethics often muddle the story—and just how high the stakes are for getting it right.
— Jenny Xie, author of Holding Pattern and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree -
In Nguyen’s second novel, four Vietnamese Americans’ lives are upended when violent attacks across America create a national panic . . . What follows is a near future that’s all-too-possible . . . this book promises to be both a timely read and reminiscent of this country’s not too distant past.
— Literary Hub, “Most Anticipated Books of 2025” -
Mỹ Documents is a sharp, riveting story of a Vietnamese American detention camp set in an alternate future. Funny, powerful, and propulsive, the novel skewers capitalism and the hypocrisies of journalism that lull rather than activate our attention to the vulnerable. But ultimately, Mỹ Documents is a moving portrait of the kind of people we become when we are trying to survive.
— Cathy Park Hong, bestselling author of Minor Feelings -
[A]ll-too-plausible . . . it’s hard to argue with [Nguyen’s] pessimistic, and completely justified, view of the American government as a racist oligarchy deeply influenced by nefarious corporations. His narrative pacing is perfect . . . this is a compelling read. A disturbing page-turner and a powerful look at American racism.
— Kirkus Reviews -
Kevin Nguyen is a journalist, and he brings a sharp sense of journalistic ethics to this tale.
— BookPage -
Drawing from the past to portray a reality that feels terrifyingly possible, Mỹ Documents enthralls and unsettles with every page. This was a relentlessly propulsive read, by turns wry and wise, barbed with dark humor. Through one family’s struggle to survive and speak truthfully about their experiences, the book lays bare how love, ambition, and ethics often muddle the story—and just how high the stakes are for getting it right.
— Jenny Xie, author of Holding Pattern and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree -
Kevin Nguyen is a journalist, and he brings a sharp sense of journalistic ethics to this tale.
— BookPage -
With relatable characters and abundant wit, Nguyen draws us into his state-of-the-art labyrinth, the startling sum of our Asian-American fears. You’ll never think of the acronym AAPI the same way again.
— Ed Park, author of Pulitzer Prize Finalist Same Bed, Different Dreams -
With relatable characters and abundant wit, Nguyen draws us into his state-of-the-art labyrinth, the startling sum of our Asian American fears. You’ll never think of the acronym AAPI the same way again.
— Ed Park, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Same Bed, Different Dreams -
Kevin Nguyen is a journalist, and he brings a sharp sense of journalistic ethics to this tale.
— BookPage -
Nguyen draws on the legacy of the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese Americans during WWII for this intelligent and chilling novel. . . . Nguyen delivers deep character work, especially with Jen, who grapples with the relief she feels after letting go of the pressure she’d internalized to succeed at school; and Ursula, whose Faustian bargain has tragic repercussions. This poignant narrative is an emotional roller coaster.
— Publishers Weekly
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About Kevin Nguyen
Kevin Nguyen is the features editor at The Verge, and was formerly a senior editor at GQ, the Best Books of the Month program director at Amazon, and the editorial director at Oyster and Google Play Books. He’s written for The New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and The Millions. He’s a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the National Book Foundation Junior Committee, and has served as a judge for the PEN Open Book Award. Nguyen has been named one of 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture by Brooklyn Magazine and a Star Watch Honoree by Publishers Weekly. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
About Kelly Marie Tran
Kelly Marie Tran is a voice talent and Earphones Award–winning narrator.