MichiganRadio

Vietnamese Memoir Chosen for Great Michigan Read ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - The Great Michigan Read is like a giant state-wide book club where everyone reads the same book at the same time.

Last year's book was The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway. This year it's a book called "Stealing Buddha's Dinner" by Bich Minh Nguyen.

It's a memoir about a young girl who leaves Vietnam in the mid 70s and grows up in Grand Rapids.

Jan Fedewa is executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. She thinks the book will means lots of things to lots of different people:

"It really ties into immigration, it ties into contemporary history and cultural identity. These are topics that seem to resonate with Michigan citizens."

The book's author, Bich Minh Nguyen, will tour the state in October. © Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio