"[4] Accordingly, the book's poems concern Doan's identity as a Vietnamese American, the recent history of Vietnam and its city of Saigon, and the sport of soccer.

In 2017, Doan's manuscript was selected by Phillips for the Yale Series of Younger Poets, after which it was published in March of 2018.

Phillips had helped Doan strengthen the thematic connections between his poems and consider the broader movement and cohesion of the poetry collection as a whole.

[1]Publishers Weekly observed the book's articulations of love, pain, and diaspora, stating "Refreshingly unshowy, Doan’s collection is not an obvious choice for a big prize, but it reveals itself to be a deserving one.

[8] Hyphen said "Doan deftly weaves together personal narrative, myth and history—and weds freeform lyricism to a skillful use of received forms such as the pantoum.