Chapters 32-35 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 32, "Vietnamese-Karma," began in 1989, when Andrew was visiting San Jose from school at UCLA. The family was observing the anniversary of Grandpa Pham's death, and Andrew was bringing Grandma Le to the gathering. Grandma Le had never been happy about the poor treatment of Anh, who was her daughter and Andrew's mother, from Andrew's father's side of the family. Andrew was wary of a family flare-up, but he had no money, was secretly living out of his car, and was looking forward to the feast that awaited them. Grandma Pham lived with her married daughters and youngest son in a house in Cupertino. Andrew's uncles were at the gathering, but he never had much in common with them. As the family sat around talking about money and investments, Andrew gorged himself. Andrew's father criticized his sister about getting welfare...