Stealing Buddha's Dinner

Bich Minh Nguyen is the author of three books and teaches in the MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan.

Bich, pronounced “Bic” or “Bit,” fled Vietnam with her family in 1975. Growing up, she is small, with thick glasses, and described by others as “homely.” Though she’s an introvert, she has a serious rebellious streak. She isn’t impassive in the way Anh is, though, and often takes it personally when people mistreat her.

Bich doesn’t fit in easily with her classmates, and clashes with students over race, religion, and Rosa’s leftist politics. Nonetheless, she is a “natural-born nerd” and does well in school, which affords her some freedom with her teachers and leads to her friendship with Holly Jansen. Bich is also friends with her next-door neighbor, Jennifer Vander Wal, and another Vietnamese girl in her class named Loan.

Bich is obsessed with American popular culture, from food to music to television. The adults in her life shield her from information and often do not explain to her things she wants to know, so she uses pop culture and

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