Lotusland

This was a really engaging and well written book. This book focuses on two American males and two Vietnamese females, all living in Vietnam. As an American expat myself, I found the two main American characters to be incredibly realistic in the way they acted, their views of Vietnam and Vietnamese, etc. The thing that really struck me though was how incredibly self centered all four of these characters were. I don't know that there was a single moment in the book when any of those four characters did anything that wasn't going to directly benefit themselves. There are moments when it appears one character is doing something nice, such as loaning money, helping apply for a visa, etc., but it always comes back to a selfish motivation. Even when one of the American characters visits a hospital of Agent Orange victims, he only appears to want to write about them to further his career as a journalist.

Overall an interesting read, but please know that there are lots of expats that actually love and care about the countries they are living in. Even American expats.