{"id":11542,"date":"2011-03-10T09:54:57","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T14:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=11542"},"modified":"2014-05-17T17:01:51","modified_gmt":"2014-05-17T21:01:51","slug":"first-they-killed-my-father-a-daughter-of-cambodia-remembers-by-loung-ung-author-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/first-they-killed-my-father-a-daughter-of-cambodia-remembers-by-loung-ung-author-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung + Author Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"First<\/a>For someone who has experienced hell, Loung Ung<\/a> is a bright, welcoming voice filled with inviting laughter.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s warm: \u201cI just had dinner with my writing group last night. They\u2019re my PenGals. I just love them! I don\u2019t know what I would do without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s practical: \u201cI hate to drive! I have a 1997 beat-up old Toyota so if I get another ding on it, I don\u2019t have to worry!\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s mischievous: \u201cYeah, just about when everyone is pulling out their boots and scarves, I like to share pictures of me on the beach with my friends at home who are freezing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s curious: \u201cI tried to Google you, but I couldn\u2019t figure out which Terry Hong you are!\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s goofy: \u201cWhen I don\u2019t feel like cooking, and my husband doesn\u2019t feel like cooking, I just tell him, \u2018Hey, I moved to Ohio for love! Make me something warm and good! Pour me a glass of wine and I\u2019ll sit at the counter and entertain you while you cook for me!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, she loves to eat, and she\u2019s not even picky: \u201cI can eat anything, and sleep anywhere!\u201d she declares. \u201cI grew up eating out of the garbage cans, so nothing ever upsets my stomach!\u201d<\/p>\n

And there she offers a glimpse of her past. Above all else, Loung Ung is a survivor \u2013 a survivor who has managed to keep her humanity (and humor) intact in spite of enduring unspeakable atrocity. After living the first five years of her life as a privileged, pampered second-to-last daughter \u2013 one of seven children \u2013 in a large Cambodian-Chinese family in Phnom Penh, she spent the next five years trapped in tortuous horror, trying to outrun destruction, war, starvation, and death. During her most formative years, she experienced both the unconditional devotion and courage of her family, and witnessed the most atrocious evil acts of inhumanity.<\/p>\n

The United States\u2019 evacuation of Vietnam in April 1975 affected not only Vietnam, but neighboring Cambodia and Laos, where the so-called Vietnam War spread. With the U.S. troops out of the way, the Communist Khmer Rouge stormed into Cambodia\u2019s capital (and largest city) Phnom Penh and dispersed its inhabitants; those who survived were sent to forced labor camps where many would die of starvation, disease, torture, and execution. Over the next four years, Pol Pot and his regime claimed 1.7 million lives \u2013 a quarter of Cambodia\u2019s then-population.<\/p>\n

Half of Loung\u2019s immediate family somehow survived. Those horrific years \u2013 from ages 5 to 9 \u2013 eventually became Loung\u2019s debut memoir, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers<\/em>, originally published in 2000, which quickly became a national bestseller. Five years later, she followed that success with the critically acclaimed Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

With the same courageous energy that allowed her to survive when so many did not, Loung has spent most of her adulthood enabling, championing, saving other people\u2019s lives. As an international activist, Loung was the perfect choice to inaugurate the 10×10<\/a> team of exceptional writers. [… click here for more: author interview appears on pages 6-13<\/a>]\n

Author interview<\/strong>: 10×10: Educate Girls, Change the World Book Club Kit, March 2011, pages 6-13<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For someone who has experienced hell, Loung Ung is a bright, welcoming voice filled with inviting laughter. She\u2019s warm: \u201cI just had dinner with my writing group last night. They\u2019re my PenGals. I just love them! I don\u2019t know what I would do without them.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,797,325,107,20,136,137],"tags":[6608,75,10,1916,11,12,24,25,1456,39,28,44,45],"class_list":["post-11542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-author-interview-profile","category-cambodian","category-cambodian-american","category-memoir","category-nonfiction","category-southeast-asian","category-southeast-asian-american","tag-bookdragon","tag-death","tag-family","tag-first-they-killed-my-father","tag-friendship","tag-girl-rising","tag-historical","tag-immigration","tag-loung-ung","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-politics","tag-siblings","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung + Author Interview - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/first-they-killed-my-father-a-daughter-of-cambodia-remembers-by-loung-ung-author-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung + Author Interview - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For someone who has experienced hell, Loung Ung is a bright, welcoming voice filled with inviting laughter. 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