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The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War by Denise Chong

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More than any other Vietnam book in recent years, The Girl in the Picture confronts us with the ceaseless, ever-compounding casualties of modern warfare. --The San Francisco Chronicle On June 8, 1972, nine-year-old Kim Phuc, severely burned by napalm, ran from her blazing village in South Vietnam and into the eye of history. Her photograph-one of the most unforgettable images of the twentieth century-was seen around the world and helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War. This book is the story of how that photograph came to be-and the story of what happened to that girl after the camera shutter closed. Award-winning biographer Denise Chong's portrait of Kim Phuc-who eventually defected to Canada and is now a UNESCO spokesperson-is a rare look at the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese point-of-view and one of the only books to describe everyday life in the wake of this war and to probe its lingering effects on all its participants. Editorial Reviews An extraordinary piece of journalism. -The Baltimore Sun More than any other Vietnam book in recent years, The Girl in the Picture confronts us with the ceaseless, ever-compounding casualties of modern warfare. -The San Francisco Chronicle - From the Publisher An extraordinary piece of journalism. - Baltimore Sun ...it is a book that everyone should read, especially those who think the war ends on the day hostilities cease. - San Francisco Chronicle ...Chong deserves praise for achieving something that few journalists have even attempted: In telling Phuc's tale, she has created a dramatic tableau of daily village life during and after the war. - Biography All you have to do is say the girl in the picture and any American who was politically aware during the Vietnam War will conjure up the image of a little Vietnamese girl running down the road, her naked body scorched by napalm, her face contorted in pain. That photograph, taken of a girl named Kim Phuc on June 8, 1972, by Nick Ut of the Associated Press, remains a haunting image of the American war in Vietnam. Canadian writer Chong (The Concubine's Children) now tells Phuc's story in this instructive authorized biography. Tracing Phuc's life both before and after she was nearly killed (at age nine) by a South Vietnamese air force napalm strike gone wrong, Chong unblinkingly presents graphic depictions of the horrors that the war visited on innocent civilians. She finds, however, amidst these tragedies, a redemptive story in Phuc's life, which, thankfully, has a happy ending. Through the heroic efforts of Nick Ut, British correspondent Christopher Wain and others, the girl was taken to an excellent hospital in Saigon. Through 17 operations (in 24 months), an international team of doctors saved her life. Later, after communist authorities mercilessly used her for propaganda purposes, she fled Vietnam. Today, she and her husband are Christians, living in Ontario with their two sons. Although Phuc's entire back remains deeply scarred (keeping her in near constant pain), she works as an unpaid goodwill ambassador for UNESCO and runs her own foundation for child victims of war. Chong's biography, though overly detailed at times, is a well-rendered and affecting life story. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Aug.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.| - Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly The horrors suffered by villagers during the Vietnam War were encapsulated in the unforgettable, Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of nine-year-old Kim Phuc running naked and screaming in agony from a blast of napalm dropped by a South Vietnamese fighter plane. Chong (The Concubine's Children) presents the story of Phuc's miraculous recovery and the memorable life of the war victim always to be remembered as the girl in the picture. Phuc's spent 13 months recovering from third-degree burns that covered 35 percent of her body. She later became a good student, but her dream of becoming a doctor was never realized because of the celebrity status given to her by the victorious Communists. Prime Minister Dong treated Phuc like a granddaughter, allowing her to attend the University of Havana in Cuba, far away from the demands of the Vietnamese government. Phuc realized that Cuba, which had fallen on economic hard times once its economic sponsor, the Soviet Union pulled out, offered no promise of a future. In 1992, she escape to Canada,d two sons. An important story vividly retold; highly recommended for all public libraries. - Library Journal Moving beyond the frame of that powerful photo, Chong deftly shifts focus between its personal and political impact. -Entertainment Weekly - Megan Harlan For anyone unacquainted with the details of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. The Girl in the Picture provides an absorbing, if skewed, history lesson. The famous photo and Phuc's story are a metaphor for the senselessness of the Vietnam War. Looking at the image years later, Phuc reflected that she ''didn't know how it had started, who the enemy was, who was fighting whom, who was winning or how it would, or could, end.'' -New York Times Book Review - Katherine S. Newman The tale of the girl, Kim Phuc, who survived the napalm burns (the result of friendly fire) that sent her fleeing in terror and pain into history. - Kirkus Reviews
Publication Details

Title: The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War

Author(s):

  • Denise Chong

Illustrator:

Binding: Paperback

Published by: Penguin Publishing Group: , 2001

Edition:

ISBN: 9780140280210 | 0140280219

400 pages. 5.21(w) x 7.95(h) x 0.91(d)

  • ENG- English
Book Condition: Good

Cover worn
3415ac

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Foxing - Wikipedia
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Age tanning, or browning, occurs over time on the pages of books. This process can show up on just the edges of pages, when this occurs it is sometimes referred to as "edge tanning." This kind of deterioration is commonly seen in books printed before the advent of acid-free paper in the 1980s.
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  • Trade Name: Book Express Ltd
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  • Address: 35 Nathan Terrace, Shannon, 4821, New Zealand.
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  • NZBN: 9429031911290

       

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