The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do

This book won some major publishing prize this year for being one of the highest selling locally written books of the year, and while the writing is pretty basic, the story (and the humour with which it’s told) is quite extraordinary. Anh is an Australian-Vietnamese comedian, who came into the cultural lexicon via a few spots on Rove and Dancing with the Stars, which he won, and became an instant celeb (I was overseas at this time so kind of missed this crucial profile building period). But it seems that for a time, Australians were happy to embrace this Vietnamese looking, Aussie sounding guy because he was funny and non-threatening.

And this is where Anh has snuck under the radar by telling what is a really shocking and devastating boat family story, coated it in gags and Australians have lapped it up – kind of like sneaking vegetables onto the plate and making you like them without knowing you’re eating them. This is a GREAT thing, and there’s even talk of it being compulsory reading for early high schoolers. But while this book is being lauded as one of the best of 2011, we still have the Herald Sun and the Daily Telegraph howling about sending back the boats on their front pages. Go figure.

I loved Anh’s sweet and unwavering positivity, and belief that he can do anything he sets his mind to – from studying law to being a comedian to wooing his best friend from uni and having three sons, winning a bundle of money for charity on TV – there’s no idea too big or too silly to have a crack at. He’s a massive dag and there is absolutely no pretension to the writing at all. It definitely put a smile on my dial.