Shadows of Vietnam
How long does it take for a war to end?
In Shadows of Vietnam, three linked novellas tell the stories of an America bitterly divided during the Vietnam War and the long reach of those conflicts in the decades afterward.
From 1968, when Toby Woodruff saw refusing to fight as the way to serve the America he believed in, to Sarah Shepherd, who finally makes peace with her brother’s death and her own turbulent history when she visits Vietnam in 1993, the stories trace the struggles of those who served, those who resisted, and the families and friends caught between them.
Shadows of Vietnam is a new edition of Collateral Damage, which was published by Standing Stone Books in 2021. That first edition won the 2013 Independent Book Publisher Awards bronze medal for literary fiction and was a Small Press Distribution bestseller in 2012 and 2013.
“The writing is masterful – so clear and bright and quiet. . . . In short, it’s brilliant… an amazing product of that unfortunate waste [Vietnam], on par with, yet completely different from, that Vietnam War masterpiece, The Things They Carried.” — Curtis Dawkins, author of The Graybar Hotel, reviewing for Bull Men’s Fiction
“Shadows of Vietnam is powerful, poignant, and eloquent. Each of the novellas is told from a different perspective, forming a richer and more layered tapestry of that too-long war. It ends with light and hope for any who progress beyond darkness, bullets, and despair.” —Curt Colbert, author of All Along the Watchtower
“I was truly captivated, not only by the stories, but also by the clear, exacting prose. The book brings back a time that is so relevant now.” — E.C. Murray, author of An Unfamiliar Guest
“These are engrossing stories told with considerable artistry, full of recognition and sympathy.” — Diane Johnson, author of The Shadow Knows
“A great exploration of the damage war can do.” — John Merson, author of War Lessons
Bronze Medal for Literary Fiction, 2013 Independent Book Publishers Awards
Finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
Small Press Distribution bestseller, 2012 and 2013