The West long ago changed the East, says Vietnamese-American author Andrew Lam. But in the age of globalization, 'East too, in profound ways, is changing West.'

Lam will read and discuss East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres, his new collection of 21 personal essays exploring cultural confluence, on Thursday, January 20, 2011 in a program hosted by Asia Society Texas Center. Lam's essays address a range of topics from comics and manga to differences between Eastern and Western teaching styles and the sudden ubiquity of the classic Vietnamese soup, Pho.

'In these lovely, wise, probing essays, Andrew Lam not only illuminates the crucial 21st century issues of immigration and cultural identity, but the greater, enduring issues of what it means to be human,' writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler. 'East Eats West is a compelling book, and an important one.'

Born in South Vietnam, the son of a South Vietnamese army general, Lam came to the United States at age 12 with his family, following the fall of Saigon. He was educated at the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University. He is currently web editor of California-based New America Media and is a regular contributor to National Public Radio's All Things Considered. His first collection of essays, Perfume Dreams, came out in 2005.

Asia Society last hosted Lam in Houston in 2008, when he participated in the well-received program Creative Voices, Creative Minds: The Vietnamese American Experience.

Lam's talk will be followed by a book sale and signing. Admission is free but advance registration is requested. For more information, email [email protected] or call 713-439-0051, ext. 17.