| The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam Contributor(s): Bissell, Tom (Author) |
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ISBN: 1400075432 ISBN-13: 9781400075430 Publisher: Vintage OUR PRICE: $13.46 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2008 Annotation: In April 1975, as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army, John Bissell, a former Marine officer living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was glued to his television. Struggling to save his marriage, raise his sons, and live with his memories of the war in Vietnam, Bissell found himself racked with anguish and horror as his country abandoned a cause for which so many of his friends had died. Opening with a gripping account of the chaotic and brutal last month of the war, "The Father of All Things" is Tom Bissell's powerful reckoning with the Vietnam War and its impact on his father, his country, and Vietnam itself. Through him we learn what it was like to grow up with a gruff but oddly tender veteran father who would wake his children in the middle of the night when the memories got too painful. Bissell also explores the many debates about the war, from whether it was winnable to Ho Chi Minh's motivations to why America's leaders lied so often. Above all, he shows how the war has continued to influence American views on foreign policy more than thirty years later. At the heart of this book is John and Tom Bissell's unforgettable journey back to Vietnam. As they travel the country and talk to Vietnamese veterans, we relive the war as John Bissell experienced it, visit the site of his near-fatal wounding, and hear him explain how Vietnam shaped him and so many of his generation. This is the first major book about the war by an author who grew up after the fall of Saigon. It is a fascinating, all-too-relevant work about the American character-and about war itself. It is also a wise and moving book about fathers, sons, and the universal desire to understand who our parentswere before they became our parents. "From the Hardcover edition." |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs |
| Dewey: 959.704 |
| Series: Vintage Departures |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.28" W x 8" (0.88 lbs) 432 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Southeast Asian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Father of All Things is a riveting, haunting, and often hilarious account of a veteran and his son's journey through Vietnam. As his father recounts his experiences as a soldier, including a near fatal injury, Tom Bissell weaves a larger history of the war and explores the controversies that still spark furious debate today. Blending history, memoir, and travelogue, The Father of All Things is a portrait of the war's personal, political, and cultural impact from the perspective of the generation that grew up in the wake of the conflict. It is also a wise and revelatory book about the bond between fathers and sons. |