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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 parents were before they became our parents.From the Hardcover edition.
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Showing 4 featured editions. View all 4 editions?
Edition | Availability |
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1
The Father of All Things
2009, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
eBook
in English
0307523616 9780307523617
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2
The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam (Vintage Departures)
March 11, 2008, Vintage
Paperback
in English
1400075432 9781400075430
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3
The father of all things: a Marine, his son, and the legacy of Vietnam
2007, Pantheon Books
in English
037542265X 9780375422652
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4
The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam
March 6, 2007, Pantheon
in English
037542265X 9780375422652
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Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. [377]-388) and index.
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- Created December 20, 2008
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August 19, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
December 15, 2009 | Edited by WorkBot | link works |
June 10, 2009 | Edited by ImportBot | Found a matching Ithaca College Library MARC record |
December 20, 2008 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from University of Toronto MARC record |