I’m a huge fan of Tobias Wolff. I loved his novel Old School and his memoir This Boy’s Life is a classic of the genre.
I just finished his memoir of a young manhood fighting in Vietnam called In Pharaoh’s Army: Memories of the Lost War. It’s terrific. Virtually every sentence is rhythmic and supple. Here’s one sentence I underlined:
Not one person out there cared whether I lived or died. Maybe some tender hearts cared in the abstract, but it was my fate to be a particular person, and about me as a particular person there was an undeniable, comprehensive lack of concern.
I know of no other living American writer with as deft a touch. Newsweek says, “He’s a hell of a writer…he writes such spare, whistling prose that you’d follow him anywhere, even into battle.”
I highly recommend Wolff’s memoirs and novels.
Thanks, Ben, for highlighting this great book. As someone who lived in Vietnam for two years and traveled to many of the battle sites, the other one I recommend for readers interested in this subject from a personal/philosophical perspective (with a lot of military history as well) is the classic Cat From Hue by John Laurence. For those more interested in Vietnamese culture/history, the absolute best is Sacred Willow, by Duong Van Mai Elliott.
I am a daily reader and always enjoy your posts. Thanks for writing!