Bibliograph

In Pharoah's army, memories of the lost war, Tobias Wolff

Type

Label

In Pharoah's army, memories of the lost war, Tobias Wolff

Language

eng

resource.biographical

autobiography

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

In Pharoah's army

Oclc number

30436634

Responsibility statement

Tobias Wolff

Sub title

memories of the lost war

Summary

In Pharaoh's Army is Tobias Wolff's unflinching account of his tour in Vietnam, his tangled journey there and back. Using his old wiles and talents, he passes through boot camp, trains as a paratrooper, volunteers for the Special Forces, studies Vietnamese, and - without really believing it himself - becomes an officer in the U.S. Army. Then, inexorably, he finds himself drawn into the war, sent to the Mekong Delta as adviser to a Vietnamese battalion. More or less innocent, self-deluded but rapidly growing less so, he dedicates himself not to victory but to survival. For despite his impressive credentials, he recognizes in himself laughably little aptitude for the military life and no taste at all for the war. He ricochets between boredom and terror and grief for lost friends; then and in the years to come, he reckons the cost of staying alive. A superb memoir of war, In Pharaoh's Army is an intimate recounting of the central event of our recent past. Once again Tobias Wolff has combined the art of the best fiction and the immediacy of personal history - with authority, humanity, and sure conviction

Table Of Contents

Thanksgiving special -- Command presence -- White man -- Close calls -- Duty -- A federal offense -- The lesson -- Old China -- I right a wrong -- Souvenir -- The rough humor of soldiers -- Civilian -- Last shot

Classification