The author Vincent Lam discusses his new novel The Headmaster’s Wager (Doubleday, 2012), the debut novel from the Giller Prize winner, with Joseph Planta.

The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam. (Doubleday, 2012) Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Headmaster’s Wager

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver at TheCommentary.ca.

Vincent Lam joins me now. He’s got a new book out, his long awaited novel, The Headmaster’s Wager. It has already been described as epic, a masterpiece, superbly crafted, and deeply affecting. In the book, Percival Chen is the headmaster of a highly regarded English school in Vietnam. Set amidst the Vietnam War, we see Chen, who’s Chinese, navigate the culture and politics of Vietnam. He’s a gambling and womanising bon vivant, looking out for his son who he wants to retain a sense of his Chinese identity, and Chen has also fallen for a local, a half-Vietnamese, half-French woman. Vincent Lam is an emergency physician in Toronto, and he lectures at the University of Toronto. He received the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his collection Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. He’s also written a biography of Tommy Douglas, and co-written a book on influenza. The website for more is at www.vincentlam.ca. The book is published by Doubleday. He will be appearing with Linden MacIntyre next Wednesday night, the 9th of May at Incite, the series put on by the Vancouver International Writers Festival, which will be at the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library, Downtown. And next Thursday night, the 10th, he’ll be appearing at Bolen Books in Victoria. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in Vancouver this day, Vincent Lam; Dr. Lam, Good morning.

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