Review by Booklist Review
In a compilation of his news items, portions of which originally appeared in Rolling Stone and Esquire, Herr bears harsh witness to the waste of war, affording immediate, brutal perspectives that evoke the irony, fear, and war-stained psyches of the men he met in the field. "I went to cover the war and the war covered me." [BKL N 15 77]
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
American correspondent Herr's documentary recalls the heavy combat he witnessed in Vietnam as well as the obscene speech, private fears and nightmares of the soldiers. ``Herr captures the almost hallucinatory madness of the war,'' said PW. ``This is a compelling, truth-telling book with a visceral impact, its images stuck in the mind like shards from a pineapple bomb.'' (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Herr's (The Big Room) classic 1977 memoir about his time as an Esquire reporter covering the Vietnam War, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, elucidates those soldiers' lives like few other books have managed. In this audio production, veteran actor/narrator Ray Porter reads with controlled force, delivering a very strong performance. He gives the soldiers voices of their own, presenting their dialog with appropriate expression and credible accents. Military historians will enjoy this.-Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll. Lib., Lynchburg (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Vietnam, man. Bomb 'em and feed 'em, bomb 'em and feed 'em""--a chopper pilot summarized the war strategy for Herr. And with Herr's belated volume of unfiled dispatches from the front, the awareness grows that this war--like no other since WW I--continues to produce a rich lode of literature, part litany, part exorcism, part macabre nostalgia. Like his buddies Scan Flynn and Dana Stone--later MIA in Cambodia--Herr was a correspondent with a license to see more than just a single mud hole. Using the ""Airmobility"" of the helicopters, he hopscotched the country from Hue to Danang to the DMZ to Saigon (""the subtle city war inside the war"" where corruption stank like musk oil). He was at Hue during the battle that reduced the old Imperial capital to rubble, at Khe Sanh when the grunts' expectations of another Alamo were running high. Between mortar shells and body bags he reflected on the mysterious smiles of the blank-eyed soldiers, smiles that said ""I'll tell you why I'm smiling, but it will make you crazy."" And Herr, who is full of twisted, hidden ironies, is all wrapped up in the craziness of the war, enthralled by the limitless ""variety of deaths and mutilations the war offered,"" and by the awful ""cheer-crazed"" language of the official communiques which always reported spirits high, weather fine. He knew, and his buddies knew, that this kind of reportage was ""psychotic vaudeville""--though not for a moment would he deny the harsh glamour of being a working war correspondent. He came home eventually, to do the ""Survivor Shuffle"" and miss Vietnam acutely, and he writes with a fierce, tight insistence that never lets go. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
