Andrew X. Pham

(CNN) -- Andrew X. Pham escaped from Vietnam with his family in a leaking fishing boat when he was 10 years old. Now, 22 years later, he has written about growing up in the United States and returning to his homeland.

"Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam" is Pham's first book. It chronicles his return to Vietnam, and the revelations he found waiting for him there.

Life wasn't easy for Pham, his two brothers, his sister Chi and his mother and father. The family moved from one refugee group to the next after arriving in the U.S. in 1977.

Chi had never wanted to leave Vietnam, and ran away shortly after the family settled in California. Years later, she returned to the family as a transsexual and committed suicide.

Pham, who had achieved a measure of comfort and security as an engineer, was haunted by his sister's death. He left his job, sold his possessions and set off on a 2,357-mile five-month trip bicycle journey.

He says he made the trip because he wanted to do something greater than himself.

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Read an excerpt from "Catfish and Mandala"

"I harbored, and still do," he says, "romantic notions of America and what it takes to be an American. Western writers often cherish the ideas of pursuing dreams and heeding the calls of the heart. I share these ideals and want to practice them."

Vietnamese nationals call people like Pham Viet-kieu, or "foreign Vietnamese" He says he needed to know how Vietnamese view the Viet-kieu.

"Some Vietnamese see Viet-kieu as traitors," Pham says, "Some see us as lottery winners, the fortunate ones who live abroad, endowed with privileges and opportunities. Some see us as potential benefactors. Other still have begun to see us almost as a separate race."

Vietnam is an ancient land that's at the same time modern. Pham's search for his roots takes the reader inside this elusive culture, and offers some insight into the Vietnamese immigrant experience.

"I am always more Vietnamese than I think and less American than I hope," Pham concludes.

"Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam" is published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux at $25.