Bùi Công Văn was born in Cần Thơ, South Vietnam, in 1919 and passed away in Dallas, Texas in 1998. As a program announcer and translator for the Voice of America in New York City in the 1950s, Văn and his family housed Ngô Đình Diệm at their apartment for 9 months in 1952-1953 during his sojourn in the United States. Văn later served as the Consul of the Republic of Vietnam's Mission in Hong Kong from 1956 to 1963. This book is the story of how he met Ngô Đình Diệm and how that encounter shaped his life.

"Ngô Đình Diệm was indisputably among the most important figures in Vietnam's modern history ... This memoir by a Vietnamese who lived for nearly nine months under the same roof with Diệm at an important moment in his life will contribute to our knowledge about him."

Tuong Vu, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon