Pool and its Role in Asian Communism — Colin Cotterill

A funny and moving tale set during the secret war in Laos The year is 1970. Waldo Monk is 65 years old, a widower, and two months away from retirement after a lifetime at Roundly's pool-ball factory in Mattfield, Indiana. Enter Saifon, a twenty-something Lao-American girl with an attitude, who has come to the US under mysterious circumstances. She's just arrived at Roundly's, and it's Waldo's task to train her up for his job as pool-ball quality controller. Saifon hates just about everyone, and even though Waldo is tempted to strangle her at first, a friendship grows between them. Two personal disasters in Waldo's life lead to him 'adopting' Saifon instead. But Saifon's mission at the factory is to make enough money, by hook or by crook, to get back to Laos - for she has sworn to discover the truth about her past.