On Thi Bui’s “The Best We Could Do”

Illustrator’s memoir chronicles life between Vietnam and United States

Dorothy Dark | A&C Editor | The USD Vista

When passing through neighborhoods or driving along the coast, hundreds of narratives live on in the memories of neighbors and strangers. Casual waves and polite smiles may fuel some illusion of camaraderie. Nevertheless, there are stories still unheard. Behind certain doors of homes that line these roads are deeply complex and profoundly inspiring families who have made something beautiful of the circumstances they’ve been handed. Illustrator Thi Bui wrote about her family, and in doing so offered up the privliege of reading their story. The variation of kindred relationships are infinite and love abounds in peculiar – often subtle – ways, but these stories can hold divine wisdom. 

In San Diego, a city that’s home to an estimated 170,000 immigrants, there’s no shortage of such stories. However, they often fail to reach the general public and live on in the foundation of buildings we see but rarely explore. If one were to pass by an orange apartment building, bordered by Bottlebrush and Cyprus, there’s a small chance the place was once called home by author and artist Thi Bui. 

Well-versed in illustration, the Vietnamese-American cartoonist brings forth remnants of her youth as inspiration for her work depicting the “refugee experience.” In her illustrated memoir, “The Best We Could Do”, Bui offers up the story of her family and their experience emigrating from Vietnam to the United States. 

The book works as a testament to the complicated process of loving one another, especially in the midst of transitioning between cultural realities. From East to West, the change in scenery is significant and emotionally tasking. Coupled with the largely untouched history that her family carries with them, confusion and fear seem to reign in the home as a consequence of emotional wounds. 

This does not, however, cancel out the deep love her family holds for one another. Bui dares to explore the realm between what we feel and what we do not know, taking in the subtleties of her childhood as a means to inform what’s below the surface. Her story challenges the audience to look beyond the preemptive emotions that often stop conversations. Where there’s anger, there’s a cause, and through vulnerable storytelling she looks for answers.

Bui’s work is a meditation on what people can do with the love they feel for those around them in spite of characteristics that may not immediately make sense. Moreover, it offers her audience information on the emotional tolls of displacement. She encourages a deeper awareness from her readers through the exploration of stories that occured in the past but still hold power over the present. This book is a way out of the dark in searching for meaning behind the memories that sit with us and won’t seem to move. Through accounts of her personal trauma, she offers readers an affectionate hand in working through our own.

(Bui’s work is available in most bookstores and through most distributors online. Available for purchase on Amazon at $12.23.)