''The Land I Lost'' is an autobiographical book that centers on the life of the author,

Quang Nhuong Huynh Quang Nhuong Huynh (August 22, 1946—2001) was a Vietnamese-born American author. He wrote two books, and has received several awards for his autobiographical work The Land I Lost. Huynh is credited as being the first Vietnamese author to writ ...

. The book was first published by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in 1982, and was illustrated by Vo-Dinh Mai. Huynh's second book,

Water Buffalo Days Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

, used multiple passages originally published in ''The Land I Lost'', though it focused on the author's childhood rather than his entire life. With the Publication of ''The Land I Lost'' and ''Water Buffalo Days'', Huynh became the first Vietnamese to publish fiction and non-fiction in English.

Awards

''The Land I Lost'' won several awards. It received the

ALA Notable Children's Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (est ...

award, the ALA Booklist Editors' Choice award, the Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies (NCSS/CBC), the Library of Congress Children's Books award, the

William Allen White Children's Book Award The William Allen White Children's Book Award is a set of two annual awards for books selected by vote of Kansas schoolchildren from lists prepared by committee. As a single award it was established in 1952 by Ruth Garver Gagliardo, a children's ...

(Kansas), the Friends of American Writers Award, and the Blue Cobra Award. The book was also translated into several different languages including German, French, Spanish, and

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Cultural significance

The publishing of ''The Land I Lost'' had a large impact upon modern culture. The author,

was born in

My Tho, Vietnam My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Mark ...

in 1946. After being wounded in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, Huynh traveled to the United States for physical therapy in 1963. Deciding to stay in the U.S. after therapy, Huynh began his writing career with the release of ''The Land I Lost'' in 1986. The book became the first book written in English by a Vietnamese author, and after Huynh's second book, he became the first Vietnamese to write both fiction and non-fiction in English.

References

Vietnamese books 1982 children's books Children's non-fiction books Harper & Row books Autobiographies Children's books set in Vietnam {{lit-bio-book-stub