The Magic Fish is a semiautobiographical work. According to an interview, Trung Le Nguyen was born in a refugee camp in the Philippines and eventually came to the United States in 1992 with his family. (Gandhi, Lakshmi. “In many Asian languages, ‘LGBTQ’ doesn’t translate. Here’s how some fill the gaps.” 2020. Nbcnews.com.) As made clear by his author’s note, his story of arrival is not one that ended when he stepped foot on the shores of the United States. Like Tiền, his parents would often take him to the library, and he too struggled to find the right word when coming out to his parents.

Nguyen’s family is one of almost two million who immigrated from Vietnam between 1975 and 1992. Because many escaped by water, these refugees are known as the “Vietnamese Boat People,” an image that echoes in Nguyen’s narrative and Hiền’s memories of being aboard a boat. Hiền’s experience lingers with her; she confides in her aunt that “[i]t feels like I died on that boat” (176). Her trauma speaks to the experience that Nguyen and many others had: It was always possible that they could be captured and punished.