Fiction & Poetry
For analysis and literary criticism of fiction about the Vietnam War, see PS 228 V5 section on the Mezzanine of Kroch Library bookstacks.
The Vietnam Reader: the Definitive Collection of American Fiction and Nonfiction on the War by
"The Vietnam Reader is a selection of the finest and best-known art from the American war in Vietnam, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, film, still photos, and popular song lyrics. All the strongest work is here, from mainstream bestsellers to radical poetry..." .
Call Number: DS 557.7 V5625x 1998 (in Kroch Asia stacks, level B)Publication Date: 1998 (New York : Anchor Books)
The Mammoth Book of the Vietnam War by
Lewis's compelling selection of the best writing to come out of a war covered by some truly outstanding writers, both journalists and combatants, includes an eyewitness account of the first major battle between the US Army and the People's Army of Vietnam at Ia Drang; a selection of letters home; Nicholas Tomalin's famous 'The General Goes Zapping Charlie Cong'; Robert Mason's 'R&R', Studs Terkel's account of the police breaking up an anti-war protest; John Kifner on the shootings at Kent State; Ron Kovic's 'Born on the Fourth of July'; John T. Wheeler's 'Khe Sanh: Live in the V Ring'; Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh on the massacre at My Lai; Michael Herr's 'It Made You Feel Omni'; Viet Cong Truong Nhu Tang's memoir; naval nurse Maureen Walsh's memoir, 'Burning Flesh'; John Pilger on the fall of Saigon; and Tim O'Brien's 'If I Die in a Combat Zone'.
Call Number: DS557.4 .M36 2015Publication Date: 2016 (London : Robinson)
Vietnam Voices: Perspectives on the War Years, 1941-1982 by
"Arranged chronologically .... the attitudes and experiences of soldiers and generals, hawks and doves, politicians and protesters, writers, spies and pilots are revealed in excerpts from (all forms of oral and written documentation) ...American, French, British, Cambodia, Thai, Lao, South & North Vietnamese."
Call Number: DS 557.7 V655Publication Date: 1984 (New York, N.Y. : Viking)
Poems from Captured Documents by
"These poems were written in journals and notebooks by ordinary soldiers who fought against American forces in Vietnam. The format of this edition is bilingual to enable both Vietnamese and American readers to appreciate these documents".
Call Number: PL 4378.65 E5 P74Publication Date: 1994 (Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press)
Patriots: the Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides by
"In this monumental oral history, Appy has created the first work to probe the war's path through both the United States and Vietnam. Intellectually illuminating and emotionally overwhelming, "Patriots" allows readers to see and feel what this war really meant to people on all sides."
Call Number: DS 559.5 A66 2003 (in Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 2003 (New York : Viking)
Words of War: An Anthology of Vietnam War Literature by
"..an anthology of literature, fiction and non-fiction...it presents in words and pictures many of the emotions stirred by that ordeal--anger, sorrow, insult, acrimony, bitterness, compassion-- whether displayed on bumper stickers, shouted at anti-war rallies, uttered in the halls of Congress, or sent out from the Oval Office.."
Call Number: DS559.5 .W92 1988 +Publication Date: 1988 (Boston : Boston Pub. Co)
Voices from the Ho Chi Minh Trail: Poetry of America and Vietnam, 1965-1993 by
"[this book] is comprised of over ninety poem spanning nearly three decades, and more than a hundred photographs taken by Rottman [a Vietnam War veteran] and his North Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Trong Thanh, between 1965 and 1993. Poems by American and North Vietnamese soldiers
Call Number: PS3568.O86 V8 1993 +Publication Date: 1993 (Desert Hot Springs, Calif; Event Horizon Press)
Song of Napalm by Call Number: PS3573.E34 S6Publication Date: 1988 (New York : Atlantic Monthly Press)Thirty-three poems by young Vietnam War veteran Bruce Weigl about war experiences.
Cracks in the Wall: Poetry and Art about the Vietnam War by Call Number: PS 3615 R58 C7 2002 +Publication Date: 2002 ( [Washington] : Washington Statewide Veterans Memorial Foundation,)Poetry and art by combat photographer Ed Orr who did multiple tours in Vietnam.- Viet Nam War Generation JournalCall Number: DS557 .V54Library has in print vol.1&2, 2001/2, 2002/3
Fiction, essays, poetry, reviews. 
The Things They Carried: a Work of Fiction by
A NYT Book of the Century and Pulitzer Prize finalist, this book is both a collection of interrelated short pieces which ultimately reads with the dramatic force and tension of a novel. It depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, With the creative verve of the greatest fiction and the intimacy of a searing autobiography. [this book] is a testament to the men who risked their lives in America's most controversial war.
Call Number: PS3565.B75 T48x 1999 (online also)Publication Date: 1998 (New York : Broadway Books,)
Thirty Years After: New Essays of Vietnam War Literature, Film and Art by
This large and extensive volume, the first collection of Vietnam War criticism published since the 1990s, reflects significant cultural and historical changes since then, including U.S.-Vietnamese cultural transactions in the wake of political reconciliation and the Vietnamese diaspora; popular commodification and memorialization of the war in America; and renascent American imperialism. 45 essays by well-established and well-published writers and critics. Among other contributions, the volume provides contributions on African American Vietnam war narratives, Chicano fiction and poetry, and American Vietnam war art & music as well as essays on real and digital war memorials, Vietnamese popular war songs, and Vietnamization of the Gulf War.
Call Number: PS 228 V5 T48 2009Publication Date: 2009 (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge scholars Pub.)
Biography
When We Came Home: How the Vietnam War Changed Those Who Served by
In this important book, for which more than 150 veterans were interviewed, a strong light is shone on the legacy of the Vietnam War and how it continues to impact those who served. Some volunteered, others were drafted. Some saw combat, others dealt with its aftermath. Some...thrived after coming home from Vietnam. Still others.. led successful lives but have had to deal with the lingering effects of PTSD. A great many struggled to reclaim their places in civilian life. The horrors and shock of war were compounded by their "welcome" home-many Vietnam veterans received hostile receptions from their own people and from the organizations that should have provided support. Those that came home from Vietnam had to move on as best they could, on their own terms. Here are their stories.
Call Number: DS 559.73 U6 M375 2017Publication Date: 2017 ([United States?] : OddInt Media)
Vietnam War: Biographies by
From American presidents and Vietnamese politicians to radical antiwar activists and defenders of civil rights, this 2-vol. set contains essays on individuals who had an impact on the war both at home and on foreign soil."Vietnam War: Biographies" illustrates how a nation became divided by this highly controversial conflict through the biographical profiles of individuals directly and indirectly involved.
Call Number: DS 557.5 H55x 2001 2 vols. (in Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 2001 (Detroit : U.X.L.)
If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Take Me Home by
A classic from the New York Times bestselling author of The Things They Carried. "One of the best, most disturbing, and most powerful books about the shame that was / is Vietnam." --Minneapolis Star and Tribune. The author takes us with him to experience combat from behind an infantryman's rifle, to walk the minefields of My Lai, to crawl into the ghostly tunnels, and to explore the ambiguities of manhood and morality in a war gone terribly wrong. Beautifully written and searingly heartfelt, If I Die in a Combat Zone is a masterwork of its genre.
Call Number: DS557.A69 O13Publication Date: 1973 (Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence)
Born on the Fourth of July by
"This New York Times bestseller details the author's life story (portrayed by Tom Cruise in the Oliver Stone film version)-from a patriotic soldier in Vietnam, to his severe battlefield injury, to his role as the country's most outspoken anti-Vietnam War advocate, spreading his message from his wheelchair. Kovic's powerful and moving new introduction sets this classic antiwar story in a contemporary context."
Call Number: DS559.5 .K88 1977 (in Olin Library; also Koch Asia stacks. DVD;of the movie is at Uris Library, Videodisc 4916.Publication Date: 1976 (New York : Pocket Books)
A Soldier Reports by
"A classic hard-line account" General Westmoreland's..memoir traces his West Point education, experiences in WWII and in Korea, and "controversial leadership as field commander and Army Chief of Staff during the Vietnam War." [Most of the book is about the Vietnam War].
Call Number: DS559.5 .W47 1989 (in Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 1989 (New York, N.Y. : Da Capo Press)
Home Before Morning : the Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam by
"Lynda Van Devanter was the girl next door, the cheerleader who went to Catholic schools, enjoyed sports, and got along well with her four sisters and parents. After high school she attended nursing school and then did something that would shatter her secure world for the rest of her life: in 1969, she joined the army and was shipped to Vietnam. When she arrived in Vietnam her idealistic view of the war vanished quickly. She worked long and arduous hours in cramped, ill-equipped, understaffed operating rooms. She saw friends die. Witnessing a war close-up, operating on soldiers and civilians whose injuries were catastrophic, she found the very foundations of her thinking changing daily. After one traumatic year, she came home, a Vietnam veteran. Coming home was nearly as devastating as the time she spent in Asia. Nothing was the same -- including Lynda herself."
Call Number: DS559.5 .V36x 2001 (in Kroch Asia stacks, level B)Publication Date: 2001 (Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press)
Chopper Blues by
Charles Jones, painter, poet, sculptor, musician and for three years a Marine Corps Platoon Commander, Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, was in Vietnam '65-'66 and received the Silver Star. These poems and prose were originally written to accompany the "Vietnam Suite," multimedia works on paper with an accompanying performance piece entitled "Chopper Blues." However, this limited print edition has been expanded to include drawings from Jones' sketchbook as well as images from the "Vietnam Suite" and woodcuts from a recent publication, The Bear Went Over the Mountain. Also included in this collection are never before published photographs of Jones's tour in Vietnam. Included also is a CD of the performance piece, featuring a reading of the poems and songs from the book with original and traditional music performed by Jones and friends.
Call Number: DS 557.72 J66 2012 ++Publication Date: 2012: Nacogdoches, TX : Stephen F. Austin State University Press
Bloods: an Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans by
A "New York Times" Notable Book, (this is) a nationally bestselling firsthand account of 20 African-American men who served in the Vietnam War.
Call Number: DS559.5 .B65 (Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 1984 (New York : Random House)
War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam by
"Nine women who made journalism history talk candidly about their professional and deeply personal experiences as young reporters who lived, worked, and loved surrounded by war.... from the earliest days of the conflict until the last U.S. helicopters left Saigon in 1975."
Call Number: DS559.5 .W3677 2002 (in Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 2002 (New York : Random House)
Vietnam Mailbag: Voices from the War 1968-1972 by
"During the peak years of [he Vietnam War], from May 1968 through December 1972, a young reporter, Nancy E. Lynch, relayed the hopes and fears, the joy and the tears, of hundreds of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from Delaware through the Vietnam Mailbag column she wrote in the Wilmington Morning News. Nancy kept all those letters, and the pictures sent with many of them..." Her book is illustrated with many color and b&w photos, illustrations and reproductions (including a William F. Buckley column about Tet '70 which mentions Cornell's Black Student Union).
Call Number: DS 559.5 L96 2008 + (in Kroch Asia stacks, level 1)Publication Date: 2008 ([China]. : Global PSD)
The Girl in the Picture: the Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War by
"On June 8, 1972, a photograph flashed over the wire of a nine-year-old girl, running naked in terror down a highway -- with her brother and cousins -- after a misplaced napalm strike on her village in South Vietnam. Known the world over as the "napalm girl" in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken by Vietnamese- American photographer Nick Ut, Kim Phuc was but one victim of many ...This is the story of Kim Phuc's struggle to reclaim first her badly burned body and then to wrest control from those seeing her as a public symbol. It culminates in her escape to the West in 1992, where she is UNESCO's Honorary Ambassador." The book also describes the experiences of Nick Ut on June 8 as he and other photographers and journalists were present at the napalm bombing of civilians.
Call Number: DS559.8.C53 C48 2006 (Rev. ed.)Publication Date: Toronto : Penguin Canada, 2006.
Fire in the Lake: the Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam by
"This landmark work, based on Frances FitzGerald's own research and travels, takes us inside Vietnam-into the traditional, ancestor-worshiping villages and the corrupt crowded cities, into the conflicts between Communists and anti-Communists, Catholics and Buddhists, generals and monks -and reveals the country as seen through Vietnamese eyes. With a clarity and authority unrivaled by any book before it or since, Fire in the Lake shows how America utterly and tragically misinterpreted the realities of Vietnam." Includes bibliographical references.
Call Number: DS 556.9 F57x 2002 (located in Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 2002 (Boston : Little, Brown)
Vietnamerica : A Family's Journey by
A superb new graphic memoir in which an inspired Vietnamese-American artist/storyteller reveals the road that brought his family to where they are today. Born and raised in South Carolina as a son of immigrants, he knew that his parents had fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon. When his last surviving grandparents die within months of each other, GB visits Vietnam for the first time and begins to learn the tragic history of his family, and of the homeland they left behind.
Call Number: E184.V53 T7315 2010Publication Date: 2011 ( New York : Villard Books)
