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Once More to the Beach, by Andrew Lam | World Literature Today

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The author’s childhood ended, more or less, on the beach of Vung Tau, Vietnam, “where magic and prayers failed.” In this lyric essay, he returns to the scene as a double refugee—in person and in memory. O ne afternoon, a long time ago, I found myself alone on the beach of Vung Tau, Vietnam, a seaside town near Saigon, staring out to sea. The war was going badly. Hue and Danang had fallen. The central highlands were next. Saigon was in panic. The communist army was advancing unimpeded. I was eleven years old and small for my age. The beach was nearly empty. The wind and waves roared in my ears. With my arms outstretched, forming strange patterns in the air, I chanted magical incantations. But what was I doing there by myself? It is impossible to reach back through all these years to claim to know that boy intimately. For a long, long time in America, that moment had escaped me—until recent years. But I remember all too well what led to it. Near the end of the war, my father and his olde

Once More to the Beach, by Andrew Lam | World Literature Today Skip to main content Home | Magazine &nbsp | March 2025 |&nbsp Essays Essays Once More to the Beach by Andrew Lam This page is available to subscribers. Click here to signin or get access . Photo by Andrew Lam The author’s childhood ended, more or less, on the beach of Vung Tau, Vietnam, “where magic and prayers failed.” In this lyric essay, he returns to the scene as a double refugee—in person and in memory. O ne afternoon, a long time ago, I found myself alone on the beach of Vung Tau, Vietnam, a seaside town near Saigon, staring

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