The Ignorance of Bliss
An American Kid in Saigon
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Narrated by:
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Sarah Mollo-Christensen
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By:
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Sandy Hanna
About this listen
The Ignorance of Bliss tells the true story of 10-year-old Sandy, who moves with her American military family to Saigon, Vietnam, where her father, the colonel, serves as a military advisor to the South Vietnamese Army.
In 1960s Saigon, Sandy finds a world of crushing poverty and extraordinary beauty; a world of streets, villas, and brothels, where politics and intrigue reside between plot and counterplot. Blissfully living a life of French decadence, Sandy maneuvers between coups, spies, bombings, corruption, and scandal as she and her 13-year-old brother, Tom, run an illicit baby-powder and Hershey-bar business on the black market and live a life of school, scouts, dance parties, and movies at the underground theater.
When the colonel's counterpart, Colonel Le Van Sam, delivers an expose on the current ruling Diem regime, Sandy finds that her constant spying on her father's activities has brought her face-to-face with the reality of Vietnam and the anti-American sentiment that pervades it.
This coming-of-age story takes place in a turbulent country striving for nationalism, giving the listener a stunning look into the life of military dependents living abroad and the underlying ignorance that surrounded a little-understood time in history.
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- A Memoir of My Parents
- By: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Narrated by: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1979, Neda Toloui-Semnani’s parents left the United States for Iran to join the revolution. But the promise of those early heady days in Tehran was warped by the rise of the Islamic Republic. With the new regime came international isolation, cultural devastation, and profound personal loss for Neda. Her father was arrested and her mother was forced to make a desperate escape, pregnant and with Neda in tow.
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I learned so much. Great pacing, felt like I time-traveled
- By Jess Fuchs on 02-07-22
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Love, Africa
- A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival
- By: Jeffrey Gettleman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A seasoned war correspondent, Jeffrey Gettleman has covered every major conflict over the past 20 years, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Congo. For the past decade, he has served as the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, fulfilling his teenage dream of living in Africa. Love, Africa is the story of how he got there - and of his difficult, winding path toward becoming a good reporter and a better man.
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Loved this book!!!
- By Benjamin on 05-26-17
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Fast Times in Palestine
- A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland
- By: Pamela J. Olson
- Narrated by: Julia Farhat
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Pamela Olson, a small town girl from eastern Oklahoma, had what she always wanted: a physics degree from Stanford University. But instead of feeling excited for what came next, she felt consumed by dread and confusion. This irresistible memoir chronicles her journey from aimless ex-bartender to Ramallah-based journalist and foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate.
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Palestine from the Inside—and Out
- By Susie on 11-04-13
By: Pamela J. Olson
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Silver Like Dust
- One Family's Story of America's Japanese Internment
- By: Kimi Cunningham Grant
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Kimi’s Obaachan, her grandmother, had always been a silent presence throughout her youth. Sipping tea by the fire, preparing sushi for the family, or indulgently listening to Ojichan’s (grandfather’s) stories for the thousandth time, Obaachan was a missing link to Kimi’s Japanese heritage, something she had had a mixed relationship with all her life. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, all Kimi ever wanted to do was fit in, spurning traditional Japanese cuisine and her grandfather’s attempts to teach her the language.
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A New LIfe
- By Kindle Customer on 08-14-12
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The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
- By: Robin Sharma
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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After a bizarre encounter with his lost cousin, Jonathan Landry is compelled to travel across the planet to retrieve letters and mementos that carry the extraordinary secrets that Julian discovered throughout his life. On a remarkable journey that includes visits to the sensual tango halls of Buenos Aires, the haunting catacombs of Paris, the gleaming towers of Shanghai and the mystical deserts of Sedona, The Secret Letters of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari reveals astounding insights on reclaiming your personal power, being true to yourself, and fearlessly living your dreams.
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Very Enlightening
- By Jocelyne Ramos on 04-23-19
By: Robin Sharma
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Summer of the Big Bachi
- By: Naomi Hirahara
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In the foothills of Pasadena, Mas Arai is just another Japanese-American gardener, his lawnmower blades clean and sharp, his truck carefully tuned. But while Mas keeps lawns neatly trimmed, his own life has gone to seed. His wife is dead. And his livelihood is falling into the hands of the men he once hired by the day. For Mas, a life of sin is catching up to him. And now bachi - the spirit of retribution - is knocking on his door.
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A mystery with its roots in WWII
- By Kindle Customer on 04-10-15
By: Naomi Hirahara
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The Glass Palace
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her.
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I struggled to finish... enough said.
- By Ty on 05-02-10
By: Amitav Ghosh
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A Chance in the World
- An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home
- By: Steve Pemberton
- Narrated by: Steve Pemberton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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A Chance in the World is the unbelievably true story of a wounded and broken boy destined to become a man of resilience, determination, and vision. Through it all, Steve's story teaches us that no matter how broken our past, no matter how great our misfortunes, we have it in us to create a new beginning and to build a place where love awaits.
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Good Book
- By Amazon Customer on 08-19-20
By: Steve Pemberton
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Something Fierce
- Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
- By: Carmen Aguirre
- Narrated by: Carmen Aguirre
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Carmen Aguirre was six-year-old when she and her family fled to Canada following General Augusto Pinochet’s violent 1973 coup in Chile. She was only eleven-years-old when her mother and stepfather joined the resistance movement and returned to South America, taking Carmen and her sister went with them. As their mother and stepfather set up a safe house for resistance members in La Paz, Bolivia, the girls' own double lives began. At 18, Carmen became a militant herself, plunging further into a world of terror, paranoia and euphoria.
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revolutionary read
- By David Brown on 04-05-18
By: Carmen Aguirre
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A Girl's Guide to Missiles
- Growing Up in America's Secret Desert
- By: Karen Piper
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The China Lake missile range is located in a huge stretch of the Mojave Desert, about the size of the state of Delaware. It was created during the Second World War, and has always been shrouded in secrecy. But people who make missiles and other weapons are regular working people, with domestic routines and everyday dilemmas, and four of them were Karen Piper's parents, her sister, and - when she needed summer jobs - herself.
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DNF on chapter 10 when Piper is 10
- By NMwritergal on 08-15-18
By: Karen Piper
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Street of Eternal Happiness
- Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road
- By: Rob Schmitz
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Modern Shanghai: a global city in the midst of a renaissance, where dreamers arrive each day to partake in a mad torrent of capital, ideas, and opportunity. Marketplace's Rob Schmitz is one of them. He immerses himself in his neighborhood, forging deep relationships with ordinary people who see in the city's sleek skyline a brighter future, and a chance to rewrite their destinies.
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Deserving of better audio
- By Rachael on 02-19-18
By: Rob Schmitz
What listeners say about The Ignorance of Bliss
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Renee Riva
- 03-07-20
A Well Told Memoir Thru the eyes of a Young Girl
I both enjoyed and appreciated this coming of age account of a US military girl and her family in Saigon during the Vietnam involvement in the 60s. It was so well told with heart, sensitivity, and humor and helped me to understand what really happened . I liked how she conveyed the culture and beliefs that are often overlooked , but critical to understanding other countries.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 12-08-20
wonderful brat history
as a military brat in Japan in the late 60s, it was thrilling to hear echos of my own past shared in such an honest and engaging story. while there are significant differences, I recognize all of these bits and pieces of growing up being moved from base to base, dealing with cultures at once strange but wonderful, living with 3 siblings thru it all and a mother as "military wife". The story telling is tight and sucked me in from the very beginning. The history lesson is a whole other aspect, well done without preaching.
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- Cathie
- 05-11-20
Military BRAT in Saigon
This book is well written and I loved listening to the narration. If you are a military BRAT this book is a must-read. If you are not then I recommend it anyway because of the rich history in her story. Vietnam is a great example of Winston Churchill‘s quote “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Great read! Great listen!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Donna H.
- 08-28-21
Engaging and enlightening historical account
This is an extremely interesting story told with knowledge and compassion. Raised as an Air Force Brat myself, I could relate to a lot of it. Sandy's understanding of the culture of Vietnamese people and the politics of the times gives one a new perspective on world events of the day.
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- Steve k.
- 08-04-22
a compelling glimpse into the life of us BRATs
PX - post exchange, not postal exchange
Was the gun in the father's drawer an .45 semi automatic, or was it a revolver? One sentence said one thing, and the following said the other.
Vietnamese name pronunciations can be difficult. Kudos to the narrator for the effort.
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