The Writing Life
Notes on writing, reading, publishing and life
For the past few months, I have been preparing to republish my first book, Collateral Damage, under its original title, Shadows of Vietnam. The inspiration for this book goes back to my earliest days as a writer; and the very first version of 1968: Getting Out was written when I was in the graduate writing program at Columbia University. Vietnam. . . Columbia. . . 1968. . . it doesn’t take much effort to conjure up how different a time that was from today.
The second and third novellas, which are linked to the first one, are set after the war in 1982 and 1993, but the consequences of the choices made during the war years—the gains and losses—drive each story. And, as I re-read the book, I was struck by the fact that question of “what it means to be a good American” runs so strongly through all three stories—and how similarly and painfully our country is divided today over the same issue.
As a result, rather than simply being historical fiction, Shadows of Vietnam has become timely in a way I never expected when I set out to re-release it. I am glad to be making it available though, as I believe it is one of fiction’s most important roles that it gives readers an opportunity live different lives in different times and places and use that experience to understand and weigh the important choices they face in their own lives.