Overview

In 1982, John Newman, curator of the Vietnam War Literature Collection at Colorado State University, said of W.D. Ehrhart: ""As a poet and editor, Bill Ehrhart is clearly one of the major figures in Vietnam War literature."" This autobiographical account of the war, the author's first extended prose work, demonstrates Ehrhart's abilities as a writer of prose as well. Vietnam-Perkasie is grim, comical, disturbing, and accurate. The presentation is novelistic--truly, a ""page-turner""--but the events are all real, the atmosphere intensely evocative.

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9781476660288

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Reviews

""As a poet and editor, Bill Ehrhart is clearly one of the major figures in Vietnam War literature""--John Newman, curator of the Vietnam War Literature Collection at Colorado State University ""a graphic portrait...gripping prose""--DAV Magazine ""brutal, honest, funny and tragic""--Philadelphia Inquirer ""one of the great poets and writers of nonfiction produced by the Vietnam War""--The Nation ""thoughtful and probing...a must""--Choice ""unrelenting, authentic...the most vivid exploration of a soldier's conscience we've ever read...eloquent""--Samisdat ""[Ehrhart] combines compassion, wit, and a poet's eye for detail with the confessional charm of a bildungsroman: a profoundly moving, authentic work""--Natalie L.M. Petesch, author of Duncan's Colony ""I don't think I've read another Vietnam narrative that presents a better picture of the participants, both Vietnamese and American, and their shared frustration as the war progressed""--John Clark Pratt, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.), author of The Laotian Fragments ""From the battlefield to the classroom, W.D. Ehrhart has used words to process and protest the Vietnam War, as highlighted by Vietnam Veterans Against the War. A Marine veteran, he transformed his experiences into poetry that is both intimate and political, preserving the memory of combat while critiquing the policies that sent young Americans into harm's way. His voice remains one of the most powerful poetic responses to the conflict. ...he blends prose with lyrical reflection to show the human cost of war. His writing often juxtaposes the innocence of youth with the brutality of war, exposing the loss of ideals and the cost of patriotism. Unlike more abstract war poetry, his work is grounded in lived detail, making it accessible and deeply moving. ... His poetry not only preserves the memory of Vietnam but also challenges readers to reflect on the recurring patterns of militarism in American life.""--Country Adventures

Author Information

Memoirist, poet, editor, and Marine veteran, W.D. Ehrhart taught English and history at the Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The author of twenty books, his prose and poetry have appeared in hundreds of publications including the Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Utne Reader, Reader's Digest, American Poetry Review and the Virginia Quarterly Review. He was a major presence in the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary The Vietnam War.

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