The Happiest Refugee

The Happiest Refugee is a 2010 autobiography by Vietnamese-born, Australian author, actor, comedian, and artist Anh Do. Following his journey from a perilous escape from Communist-ruled Vietnam as a toddler with his large family, to his working-class childhood in Australia where he struggled to fit into the predominantly white society, to his rise as one of Australia’s most sought-after comedians and motivational speakers, The Happiest Refugee is considered one of the most well-received stories of the immigrant experience in modern literature. It focuses on Anh’s relationships with his hard-working mother, his troubled, alcoholic father, his younger brother Khoa, and his close friend and eventual wife, Suzanne. The book is essentially divided into four segments, each chronicling a different part of Anh’s life and family history.

After a brief prologue flashing forward to Anh’s reunion with his father, chapters one through three focus on Anh’s family history in Vietnam. His mother and father meet in the aftermath of the war when his father saves his mother from being caught as an illegal vendor by communist police. His father, who comes from a large family, soon charms her and her family. The reader is introduced to her family, who suffered greatly during the war. In chapter two, the family stages a daring escape from Vietnam on a ramshackle boat, encountering communist patrol boats and vicious pirates along the way. Partially due to Anh’s father’s ingenuity and determination, the family survives with only one casualty along the way. They are taken to a refugee camp in chapter three, where they experience their first taste of Australian culture. Anh is very young when he and his family settle in Australia, his brother only an infant, and the rest of this segment focuses on Anh’s early adjustments into Australian culture.

Chapters four through six focus on Anh’s integration into Australian culture, as the family settles in and Anh becomes, in many respects, an ordinary Australian boy. He gets his first girlfriend, struggles to keep up in school, and battles against bullies and prejudice. The family starts a successful business selling clothes made in their living room, and Anh’s father, an ambitious dreamer, uses some of the profits to expand, and later to buy a duck farm. Anh and his siblings have many adventures during this time, but it all comes crashing down when the duck farm suffers a massive loss due to tainted feed. The family’s finances collapse, and Anh’s father takes it the hardest. He turns to drinking, becomes abusive, and eventually gets thrown out of the house by Anh’s mother. After a drunken visit to the house, Anh doesn’t see his father again for the rest of his childhood.

Chapters seven through nine take Anh through the rest of his childhood and into college. He attends an elite prep school on a scholarship, but worries about the cost to his hard-working mother. She presses him to continue, however, and he excels, graduating with honors. He chooses to go to law school to earn a high salary and make things easier for his mother. He hates the dry and competitive atmosphere, but finds his passion in taking art classes on the side—where he meets Suzie. He instantly falls for her, but she resists going out with him for years. Although he dates many other girls along the way, he never quite gets over Suzie. Eventually, the time is right and Anh and Suzie get together. They have a whirlwind courtship, and are married several months later. Although Anh’s family and Suzie’s rich family are nothing alike, they get along well. Anh decides to become a stand-up comic after a positive experience at an open-mic night and hustles enough to make serious money at it.

The final chapters focus on Anh’s career taking off, as well as his difficult reunion with his father, now remarried and with a new family. Anh is able to provide a comfortable retirement for his mother, who becomes a public figure in her own right. He and his brother Khoa establish successful careers in the entertainment industry. Anh is able to reunite his father and his siblings, and ensure that his father recovers from his illness. Now successful and with a loving family, Anh reflects back on his humble beginnings with a return trip to Vietnam. He expresses gratitude for the life he was allowed to lead and those who sacrificed to get him there.