It's rare that a book makes me not only think, but think about things I've never, ever thought about before. This is that book. 
 In addition to telling an excellent story -- universal, important, and relevant -- Nguyen uses a narrative style that is intimate but formal. He is confessing, though it's not clear until the last quarter of the book to whom, so the story and all of the dialogue are summarized. There's something rather old fashioned about this style, but it works beautifully and lends the story a specificity in both characters and scene. 
 It's just a really, really good book.