Vietnam/The Sixties 2, Vietnam Literature 6

748. NELSON, Charles. The Boy Who Picked the Bullets Up. NY: Morrow, 1981. The author's first book, a novel of a homosexual medic in Vietnam. One of the first novels to openly deal with homosexuality in the military in Vietnam, and still one of the few. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a blurb by Richard Hooker.

749. NEWHAFER, Richard. No More Bugles in the Sky. NY: New American Library (1966). A novel of the Air Force in Vietnam, one of the early novels and one of the scarcest; several of this publisher's hardcover books from this period are also extraordinarily scarce, suggesting print runs barely above what was necessary to satisfy the library market. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a couple short, closed edge tears.

750. -. Another copy. An ex-library copy: tape abrasions, glue residue, hinge cracked; a reading copy in a good dust jacket.

751. NEWHAFER, Richard. The Golden Jungle. (NY): New American Library (1968). A novel involving an ex-flyer who served in both Korea and Vietnam. Apparently an ex-library copy, with glue residue on the rear flyleaf and heavy tape abrasions to the boards; about very good in a near fine dust jacket with one abrasion affecting two letters of the title.

752. NOVAK, Marian Faye. Lonely Girls with Burning Eyes. A Wife Recalls Her Husband's Journey Home From Vietnam. Boston: Little Brown (1991). Personal account by the wife of a Marine who served in Vietnam, recounting her time in the U.S. while he served and the struggles of the next 15 years after he returned home and tried to digest the experience. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

753. OBERDORFER, Don. Tet! Garden City: Doubleday, 1971. The classic account of the 1968 Tet Offensive, a turning point in the war, at least with regard to public perception. This is the standard account of the various battles that comprised Tet. Illustrated with photographs and maps. Very good in very good dust jacket.

754. O'BRIEN, Tim. Going After Cacciato. (NY): Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (1978). His third book, a magical realist novel about a recruit who decides to simply walk away from the Vietnam war and go to Paris, overland. Dreamlike and surreal passages alternate with some of the most vivid, straightforward writing that has been done about the Vietnam war. The New York Times said that "to call Going After Cacciato a book about war is like calling Moby Dick a book about whales." Winner of the National Book Award. Warmly inscribed by the author to his publisher, Seymour Lawrence: "To Sam,/ With affection and/ gracious thanks; you've/ stuck with me all/ the way./ Tim." Near fine in an edge- and spine-sunned dust jacket with the NBA seal.

The Red Badge of Courage of the Vietnam War

755. O'BRIEN, Tim The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. His fifth book, a collection of related stories which share a number of characters as well as the narrator--a "Tim O'Brien" whose experience bears certain similarities to the author's own, as well as a number of differences. Selected as one of the 12 best books of the year, in all categories, by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. Not quite a novel in the standard sense but more tightly structured than the usual collection of stories, it is a powerful meditation on war and death, and on the place that storytelling has in bringing these ultimately unfathomable experiences within our grasp. This copy is fine in a fine, first issue dust jacket with the spine lettering offcenter, and is signed by the author. A book that may turn out to be the Red Badge of Courage of the Vietnam war--ringing with truth long after its author and its original audience are gone.

756. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine, second issue dust jacket. Also signed by the author.

757. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.

758. -. Same title, the true first edition, (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1990). Issued as a limited edition, with a special introduction written by the author which gives some insight into his vision of the line between fact and fiction. Signed by O'Brien. Leatherbound; all edges gilt; with a silk ribbon marker. Fine.

759. -. Another copy of the Franklin Library edition. This copy belonged to Tim O'Brien, and in addition to being signed by the author, it bears the notation "Tim O'Brien/ Personal Copy" in the author's hand. Fine.

760. O'BRIEN, Tim. A True War Story. Berkeley: Black Oak/Okeanos Press, 1992. A powerful and attractively printed broadside excerpt from The Things They Carried: "Twenty years later, I can still see the sunlight on Lemon's face..." (There was another broadside done in 1987 called "From How to Tell A True War Story" with different text.) 8" x 13". Fine.

761. (O'BRIEN, Tim). "Speaking of Courage" in Aftermath. NY: Holt (1995). O'Brien's copy of this anthology of post-Vietnam fiction. Warmly inscribed by the editor, Donald Anderson, to O'Brien, and signed twice by O'Brien. Other contributors include Robert Stone, Robert Olen Butler, Louise Erdrich, Tobias Wolff, Thom Jones, John Gardner, Barry Hannah, and others. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

762. O'NAN, Stewart. The Names of the Dead. NY: Doubleday (1996). The advance reading copy of the author's third book, second novel. A novel of the Vietnam war and its aftermath. O'Nan's first book won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for Short Fiction and his first novel won the 1993 Pirates Alley William Faulkner Prize for the Novel; it also resulted in his being selected one of Granta's top 20 young American authors. Corner crease to rear cover; else fine in wrappers.

763. PARKS, David. GI Diary. NY: Harper & Row (1968). Diary and photographs by this young black soldier, the son of photographer Gordon Parks. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. One of a relatively small number of personal accounts written by black soldiers.

764. PATRICK, Robert. Kennedy's Children. NY: Random House (1976). A play set in 1974, with one character a Vietnam vet who is preoccupied with letters he wrote while overseas but never sent. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

765. (Peace). Vietnam Peace Proposals. (Berkeley): (World Without War Council) (1967). Pamphlet printing peace proposals from a number of perspectives, including those that advocate peace through military victory. The editors, however, have selected a number of proposals they believe could be accepted by both sides, including ones by the Secretary General of the United Nations -- U Thant -- as well as by Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, and others. Fine in stapled wrappers.

766. PELFREY, William. The Big V. NY: Liveright (1972). A first novel in the short-lived "Liveright New Writer" series. The story of a young man just out of college, who is drafted to serve in Vietnam. Fine in pictorial boards, without dust jacket, as issued.

767. (PEROT, H. Ross). MENGER, Matt J. In the Valley of Mekong. Paterson: St. Anthony's Guild (1970). Ross Perot provides the introduction to Menger's first person account of a missionary in Laos. This is the hardcover issue, fine in a dust jacket with some scratches and dust soiling to the rear panel; still about near fine.

768. PFARRER, Donald. Neverlight. NY: Seaview (1982). A novel of a Navy officer who is wounded in Vietnam, returns home to recover, and then returns to Vietnam to complete his tour--and the effect this has on his wife and their relationship. The author served as Naval officer attached to a Marine unit in Vietnam. Small dampstain at top edge of rear inner hinge; very good in a dust jacket with a small stain on the verso at the upper rear spine fold.

769. PHILLIPS, Jayne Anne. Machine Dreams. NY: Dutton (1984). Her well-received first novel, about a family and the effect of the Vietnam war, among other things, on them. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

Vietnam Snapshot Photo Album, 1961-62

770. (Photo Album). c. 1961-1963. Two spiralbound photo albums. The albums include the owner's military orders, from 1961 to DEROS in 1963, including various assignment papers, debriefing certificate, program for a memorial service for a captain (presumably killed in Vietnam in October, 1962), an accomplished drawing of a Sikorsky helicopter, a Saigon street artist's portrait of the owner, dated August, 1962. The snapshots (114) picture scenes of the owner's base camps; village scenes; posed photos of friends; town scenes; "touristy" photos of shrines and religious sites; beach scenes with both Americans and Vietnamese; Vietnamese boats and cyclos; mountain scenes; Vietnamese villagers and children; goats; buildings that were presumably of some importance to the photographer; Americans playing basketball; etc., including one snapshot of the carcass of a downed airplane in an open field. The albums do show progression from an early tourist perspective to a later, more interesting, more intimate and involved perspective. There is little evidence of combat: the downed plane being one, the heavy density of concertina wire around the base camps another. 1962 is extremely early for American involvement in Vietnam, and at that time the war was more a brushfire guerrilla conflict than war. Snapshot albums such as this--while they must exist in some abundance--seldom come on the market. This one is additionally exceptional because of its early dates. Two volumes, one with an embossed cowboy cover. The photos are laid in, retaining their pages but not their positions on the page. Near fine. For both volumes:

771. (Photo Album). (Undated)[c. 1970-71?]. Imprinted "Memory of South Viet-Nam" on the front cover, with an illustration and a map of the country. Sixteen pages, with six snapshots on each page--96 pictures in all. Subjects include aerial views of the flight over and arrival; barracks at base camp; individual Vietnamese women and American men; various kinds of aircraft; several beach scenes, including some with dramatic surf; numerous shots of an airstrip in an undeveloped area, and the aircraft there; and several aerial shots at the end, possibly those taken on leaving Vietnam at the completion of a tour of duty. Some of the photos have faded with time but most are bright, clear and fine. The owner's inscription at the inside front cover indicates "Tuyhoa."

The Roots of the Vietnam War

772. (Phu Loi). The Phu Loi Massacre in South Vietnam. (Hanoi): Foreign Languages Publishing House (n.d.)(c. 1959-62). Propaganda pamphlet consisting of two letters to the Chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Viet Nam decrying the "massacre" by food poisoning of over 1000 political prisoners at a South Vietnamese detention camp in December, 1958. The letter writers were General Vo Nguyen Giap and Col. Han Van Lu, the liaison officer for the North Vietnamese Army High Command. Stamped "Library of Congress Surplus/Duplicate" on cover. Near fine in stapled wrappers.

The Definitive History of the Viet Cong

773. PIKE, Douglas. Viet Cong. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press (1966). The classic, definitive work on this subject, published in this country -- a prodigiously researched and documented book subtitled "The Organization and Techniques of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with two tiny chips; one at the crown and one at the rear spine fold.

774. PONCHAUD, Francois. Cambodia: Year Zero. NY: Holt, Rinehart, Winston (1978). Second printing of this seminal work on the Khmer Rouge revolution in Cambodia, originally published in France in 1976. The first of what later became a flood of books on the near-genocidal remaking of Cambodian society -- with the year of the revolution to have been "Year Zero." A striking, firsthand account of the people and policies of the Khmer Rouge by a longtime missionary in Cambodia, who fled Phnom Penh just before it fell and later amassed testimony from refugees to present the first picture to the world of the incredible brutality of the Cambodian killing fields. Fine in a fine dust jacket. One of the most important books of the postwar period.

775. PORTER, John B. If I Make My Bed in Hell. Waco: Word (1969). A novel of a chaplain in Vietnam, by a writer who was one. Inscribed by the author in 1974. Author's "business" card taped to front pastedown (Church of the Holy Quest). Fine in a very good dust jacket rubbed on the spine.

776. (POWs). From the Shadow of Death. Stories of POWs. Salt Lake City: Deseret Books, 1973. Eight Mormon POW accounts, published by a Mormon publishing company. Edited by J.M. Heslop and Dell R. Van Orden. Signed by Jay Hess, one of the former POWs. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.

777. (POWs). WEDDLE, Maj. Dennis R. I Would Have Gave My Life...But I Don't Think My Parents Would Like It. (n.p.): Weddle, (1978). A self-published anthology of writings and drawings, many from children, welcoming home returning POWs. Major Weddle was a Public Affairs Officer at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, a stopover point for the POWs en route to the U.S. Illustrated with photographs, of the POWs' release and of the letters and drawings they received. Trace wear to the cloth at the spine extremities; fine in dust jacket. Scarce.

778. PRAGER, Emily. A Visit from the Footbinder. NY: Simon & Schuster (1982). The author's first book, a collection of humorous stories, one of which concerns a women's unit in Vietnam. Inscribed by the author "with thanks for a great discussion." Fine in a fine dust jacket.

779. RABE, David. Streamers. NY: Knopf, 1977. The dedication copy of this play set in an Army barracks in the early days of the Vietnam war. Winner of the N.Y. Drama Critics' Award for Best American Play of 1976. Inscribed by the author in the month of publication: "For Mike [Nichols]/ (the director, the/ one I know) the/ best./ My best./ David/ Apr. 29, 1977." The printed dedication of the book reads "For Mike Nichols and Wylie Walker." Slight sunning to top board edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket.

780. (Regimental History). Vietnam II. 3d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division, January 1969 to December 1969. (n.p.): (3d Brigade) (n.d.) (c. 1970). Yearbook of the "Golden Brigade"'s last year in Vietnam. Broken down by unit, and heavily illustrated with photographs and artwork. Fine copy in original box (slightly rubbed and worn).

781. RIGG, Colonel Robert B. How to Stay Alive in Vietnam. Harrisburg: Stackpole (1966). One officer's how-to guide to survival in Vietnam. An anecdotal and eerie collection of information and advice (Example: "if you come to a dead end in a tunnel, stop short and watch out! It will probably be loaded with spring-mounted and wire-tripped javelins -- or booby traps..."). Small scribble on flyleaf; otherwise near fine, without dust jacket, as issued.

782. -. Another copy, seemingly a later printing as the SBN has been added to the copyright page and the book is about 1/4" taller. Again, near fine without jacket, as issued.

783. RIGGAN, Rob. Free Fire Zone. NY: Norton (1984). The author's first book, a novel of a medic in Vietnam, by a writer who served there in such a capacity. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a typed note signed from the publisher laid in.

784. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

785. -. Another copy. Title has offset from the jacket to the boards from sunning; near fine in a very good, scratched dust jacket with one edge tear.

786. RISNER, Colonel Robinson. The Passing of the Night. My Seven Years as a Prisoner of the North Vietnamese. NY: Random House (1974). POW account of seven years in the "Hanoi Hilton" by one of the POWs released in 1973. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.

787. RIVERA, Oswald. Fire and Rain. NY: Four Walls Eight Windows (1990). The author's first novel, based on a prisoner's uprising at a Marine Corps brig in Danang, in which more than 40 inmates and several guards were killed. The author was serving in Vietnam at the time, and was part of a unit brought into the area to serve guard duty. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

788. ROSS, William. Bamboo Terror. Rutland: Tuttle (1969). An uncommon novel of espionage in Vietnam, by a former intelligence officer in the Far East. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace rubbing at the corners and small initials on the front flap.

789. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author. Near fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket with light wear at the spine extremities.

790. ROSSI, Mario. The U.S. Rebuff to U Thant: The Untold Story. (n.p.): New York Review of Books (n.d.) [c. 1967]. Single sheet folded, an offprint from The New York Review of Books, piecing together the story of the UN Secretary's attempts to forge a peace in Vietnam in 1965-66, his failure, and his resultant decision to step down from his position at the end of his term. Very good.

791. ROTH, Robert. Sand in the Wind. Boston: Little Brown (1973). A novel of thirteen months in the life of a Marine squad in Vietnam, 1967-68. A well-written, ambitious, "big" novel of the war, based on the author's experiences. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with one small chip at front flap fold.

792. -. Another copy. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.

793. ROWE, Major James N. Five Years to Freedom. Boston: Little Brown (1971). Fourth printing. One of the early and important P.O.W. accounts, written by a Special Forces Major who was captured by the Viet Cong in 1963 and escaped five years later. Inscribed by the author in 1980: "To ____/ With sincere regards to/ another combat infantryman --/ You'll understand this better than/ most people./ Nick Rowe." Small abrasion to rear board; general overall handling; a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket.

794. ROWE, John. Count Your Dead. A Novel of Vietnam. (Sydney): Angus and Robertson (1968). Australian novel of the war, by a writer who served in Vietnam for a year. The experience of the Australians in Vietnam is recounted in a very small number of books, this being one of the first. Fine in a very good dust jacket. A very scarce title.

795. ROY, Jules. Dien Bien Phu. (n.p.): Julliard (1963). Text by Roy, who wrote one of the two definitive historical accounts of the battle. About half of this volume is Roy's text, the other half being photographs of the battle from various perspectives. Oblong quarto; near fine in pictorial boards with some lamination peeling and a bump at the spine base.

796. ROY, Jules. The Battle of Dienbienphu. London: Faber & Faber (1965). The first English edition of one of the two classic accounts of this pivotal battle which climaxed the first Indochina war, the other being Bernard Fall's Hell in a Very Small Place. Like Fall's book, this is an historical reconstruction of the battle, liberally laced with personal accounts by participants. Near fine in a very good dust jacket chipped at the crown.

797. RUBIN, Jonathan. The Barking Deer. NY: Braziller (1974). A novel of a Special Forces officer working with Montagnards in highland Vietnam. Two small spots to top stain; else fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket with very slight edge wear.

798. -. Another copy. Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; near fine in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with several tears including a long one at the crown.

799. -. Another copy. Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; near fine in a very good dust jacket folded far offcenter.

800. -. Another copy. Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; very good in a very good, extremely spine-faded dust jacket.

801. RUSSELL, Norman L. Suicide Charlie. Westport: Praeger (1993). Well-received personal account of the author's time in Vietnam as a draftee in 1968-69. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

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