The Ignorance of Bliss

An American Kid in Saigon

By: Sandy Hanna

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

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.

©2019 Sandy Hanna (P)2019 Tantor

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.