Michael Herr
1977
Around 260 pages
I had actually read this before, when I was earning my English Non Fiction Writing degree. But it's a good read so I'm welcoming it warmly to the syllabus.
Dispatches describes the author's experience in Vietnam as a war correspondent for Esquire magazine. We get cameos from other famous journalists, but Herr also embroidered the story with fictional and composite characters. Sounds like real journalism to me!
Herr returned to the United States intending to produce a book about what he’d seen there immediately, but 18 months after his return, he suffered a nervous breakdown due to what he saw and stopped writing for five years, until it was ultimately published in 1977. That must have been a hellish five years for him, when he was probably desperate to inform the American public about what was going on, while simultaneous being paralyzed by PTSD.
We haven't had too many novels about the Vietnam War, although a traumatized 'Nam veteran has showed up now and again. But this is exactly how I would want the topic handled, with a voice that is never preachy or overtly sentimental.
Herr said: "Everything in Dispatches happened for me, even if it didn't necessarily happen to me."
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Featured in the book are fellow war correspondents Sean Flynn, Dana Stone, and Dale Dye, and photojournalist Tim Page.
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