Viet Thanh Nguyen

All you need to know

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Levan Book Chat—Viet Thanh Nguyen, To Save and to Destroy. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. A discussion of Viet Thanh Nguyen's new book, To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other (Harvard University Press, 2025). The author will be joined in conversation by Saree Makdisi (UCLA) and Richar...

Registration link hosted by the Levan Institute for the Humanities.

usc.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Very much looking forward to talking to some amazing people, including old friends, in this online book chat about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. Come hang out with me and Saree Makdisi of UCLA, Ricky Rodriguez of UC Riverside, and Natalia Molina of USC.

My copy of László Krasznahorkai’s The Melancholy of Resistance and a typical two pages. The whole book is formatted thusly. How many American writers would dare? I love the title too.

The MacArthur Fellowship is a life-changing award. I'm glad to see two of them go to the artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen and the novelist Tommy Orange.

USC sold dead bodies to U.S. military to train IDF medical personnel A review of seven years’ worth of contracts unveiled more than $860,000 to use cadavers in surgical trainings involving the Israeli Defense Forces.

WTF category. In this case, my university, USC, provides cadavers to the US Navy to train IDF medical personnel. The cadavers are unclaimed bodies: people for whom no one was willing or able to pay for burials. What an afterlife after a difficult life--to have your body used without your consent.

Jane Fonda relaunches free speech group started by her father during the McCarthy era In wake of the Trump administration’s censorship threats, the actor re-established the Committee for the First Amendment with A-list support

Solidarity, now and forever.

“This is the most frightening moment of my life,” she added. "The only thing that has ever worked...is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.”

www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

So being against racism and fascism and standing with one’s community for self-defense is now considered a crime? Shame on UNC.

This is Dwayne Dixon. I know Dwayne and the students testifying to how great of a professor he is in the comments on Instagram are as shocked as I am.

White nationalist tattoos and fat commanders-in-chief with felony convictions are ok, however.

They're already executing Venezuelans without trial or evidence, ethnically cleansing the United States and disappearing people, and testing their ability to call anyone who opposes them a terrorist and "radical leftist." 2/2

Trump wants the military to use American cities as "training grounds" and Hegseth thinks rules of engagement are too strict. If these two--plus Miller and Homan--could get away with death squads, they would so do it. 1/2

A friend sent this picture of the new French translation of A Man of Two Faces in Paris. Unfortunately, because of tariffs, my publisher can’t send me the book. Thanks, Trump!

There is now a Center for California Literature! Long overdue. Please come to the kickoff event with Aja Monet, Ryan O’Connell, Roxane Gay, and myself on Oct. 3 at the wonderfully named Giovanni’s Room in LA.

All my escalators worked for me today. How about yours?

He’s also either being trolled by the UN’s official photographer or someone in the audience or staff has the right amount of petty to take this photo

Netanyahu had fewer attendees than an 8am panel at the MLA.

It was never about criminality or invasions or about the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. Trump and the MAGA movement hate immigrants overall. THEY START WITH THE MOST VULNERABLE AND WILL GET TO EVERY IMMIGRANT OR REFUGEE EVENTUALLY. That will include birthright citizenship too.

If Trump says this, then hopefully many of the people who listened to him today will understand that this is a racist, cruel, and ultimately self-destructive policy for so many countries that actually benefit from the cultures, values, and labor that immigrants bring.

Great summary of the Voices for Gaza event this past Sunday--you can donate at the QR code you see here.

there's a livestream option for those who can't physically be there
thetownhall.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/ins...

Thank you!

We have been shadowbanned on this event and yet we are nearly sold out…come help us sell out and show your love and support for Palestine and Gaza.

www.ticketmaster.com/voices-for-g...

Thinking about our commandant-in-chief, who loves to mock but can’t bear being mocked

It worked. We’re not talking about the Epstein files.

War on Drugs. War on Terror. War on Antifa. Americans love fighting wars they can’t win.

The Democratic Party is a joke.

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

None of this is a surprise. Remember that Trump supposedly was motivated to run for president after Obama roasted him.

Definitely Dear Leader territory. And Republicans are upset if you say the word “fascism.”

White supremacists, death threats and 'disgust': Charlie Kirk's killing roils Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is one of many communities grappling with the aftermath of the shooting of Charlie Kirk. In Surf City, white supremacists interrupted tributes.

If white supremacists are willing to march en masse in honor of Charlie Kirk, saying things like “Say his name! Take back our world! Take back our land!”--

Then maybe they understood Charlie Kirk pretty well.

, a decision that the letter-writing authors said amounted to a “collective punishment”.

“As writers, we urge you to restore this lifeline as soon as possible, and to call on other heads of state to create similar programmes”, says the letter, which was sent to Macron’s office on Friday.