The Father of All Things, Tom Bissell
The Father of All Things, Tom Bissell
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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The Father of All Things
A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam

Author: Tom Bissell

Narrator: Kerin McCue

Unabridged: 16 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/15/2008


Synopsis

In his fourth book, journalist and fiction writer Bissell (Chasing the Sea) revisits the much-trodden territory of the Vietnam War to offer a fresh perspective: that of the adult children of the war's veterans. On assignment for GQ magazine, Bissell and his ex-Marine father, John, retrace the elder Bissell's tour of duty through a now mostly peaceful and prosperous Vietnam. The first of the book's three sections narrates the historical leadup to Saigon's fall in 1975, spliced with Bissell's imagined vision of his family on the night Saigon fell (his parents' marriage was rapidly collapsing due to John's postwar trauma and alcoholism). Next comes an exhaustively researched history of the war - including a harrowing retelling of the My Lai massacre, during which civilians were brutally murdered by crazed American soldiers-within the narrative of the father-son trip, aided by Truong and Hien, their entertaining and illuminating Vietnamese tour guides. As Bissell repeatedly presses his father to confess regrets about Vietnam, the two push toward an ambivalent sense of closure on national and personal wounds. A final, less effective, section gathers testimonials from American and Vietnamese veterans' children. This humorous memoir, travelogue and accessible history - the author's most ambitious book - confirms Bissell's status as a rising star of American literature.

Author Bio

Tom Bissell is the award-winning author of Chasing the Sea, God Lives in St. Petersburg, The Father of All Things, Extra Lives, and Magic Hours. He writes for Harper's Magazine, Slate, The New Republic, and The Virginia Quarterly Review. He is also a contributor to several publications, including Grantland and The New Yorker. He is a winner of the Rome Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Tom lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

Super dense but such a goodddd book. Loved the perspective and writing style.......more

Goodreads review by Margot

I learned a lot more about the history of the end of the Vietnam War than I knew before, but the book was oddly (and I thought jarringly) constructed. The interweaving of very detailed history with personal story was not fully successful, especially in the first part of the book. And the very final......more

Goodreads review by Bryan

If you are a history fan, you need to read this book. Initially picked up because it was on sale, I was absolutely blown away. i have attempted in the past to read books about the causes and effects of Vietnam, but they always were too dry. This book tells the story of the war through the experience......more

Goodreads review by Robert

Absolutely essential reading for anyone whose father served in Vietnam.......more