About this title: A finalist for the National Book Award in 1994, IN PHARAOH'S ARMY is Tobias Wolff's account of his tour of duty in the Vietnam war. Describing with searing honesty the events that befell him--including the Tet offensive--Wolff doesn't neglect the farcical side of war, or the humorous side, and he writes keenly about the profound friendships (and also the petty hatreds) that spring up among soldiers as they work together and face the chance of death. But he also is a pitiless commentator on the folly of war, and on the staggering ineptitude and chaos that was part of the US presence in Vietnam ...
read more
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780679760238ISBN:0679760237
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Description: Good. 0679402179 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 1994-Hardcover----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780679760238ISBN:0679760237
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Several page corners have creases, otherwise, in very good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 240 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; A Borzoi Book, New York
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780679402176ISBN:0679402179
Description: Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 221 pp.; 24 cm. Topstained red. Tight, clean text. Tail edge waterstained (pages don't stick/no mold, but some of the dye on the black cloth backstrip has leaked onto the endpapers and the underside of the DJ. "Whether he is evoking the blind carnage of the Tet offensive, the theatrics of his fellow Americans, or the unraveling of his own illusions, Wolff brings to this work the same uncanny eye for detail, pitiless candor and mordant wit that ... read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780679760238ISBN:0679760237
Description: Megan Wilson (Cover Design) Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Wraps; 221 pages; Textblock is tight with no internal markings; Unfaded pictorial cover with modest shelf and edge wear including some wear to the mid-spine; ...(A book about shattered illusions and personal loss, survival and healing and growth. Tobias Wolff creates here an unforgettable memoir of an American childhood that later became entangled in the tragic events of Vietnam. He re-creates a war where survival depended not just ... read more
Edition: 9th printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books; Random House, New York
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780679760238ISBN:0679760237
Description: Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 221 pp.; 21 cm. AS NEW. "Whether he is evoking the blind carnage of the Tet offensive, the theatrics of his fellow Americans, or the unraveling of his own illusions, Wolff brings to this work the same uncanny eye for detail, pitiless candor and mordant wit that made This Boy's Life a modern classic. "-Publisher. read more
Edition: 1st Vintage Books Ed
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 9/26/1995
ISBN-13:9780679760238ISBN:0679760237
Description: New. 0679760237 May show signs of shelf wear. Choose EXPEDITED shipping, receive in 2-5 business days. Please email with questions. read more
"More real and close to home than the few other war novels I've read. Like the reviews said - it's a coming of age story that could've happened anywhere, but it happened in Vietnam."
"If you liked Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," you will like this collection of essays. This is creative nonfiction at its best, it is a continuation of his previous memoir "This Boy's Life." Tobias Wolff is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and his stories are rich and haunting."
"I studied this book for his use of time and the structure of his chapters. I could really see how he interspersed the top story with riffs of backstory and riffs of expansion - how he slowed down and sped up to give the story texture and rhythm as well as meaning. See my notes on "Thanksgiving Special," the first chapter."
"If I had to pick one word to describe this book, I think it would be "insightful." Wolff's prose is a great combination of snappy-smart and lovely and his pacing pulls us along comfortably. Rather than give us an entirely linear account, he does this thing that works well for him where he hands us a story, then talks about something else for a while, then comes back to that story from a different angle or telling a different part of it, and the seemingly unrelated stuff sandwiched in the middle allows us to look at that story in a different way.
Which leads me back to the insightful thing. There are moments where he nicks at something that feels big and true in a way that makes me hold my breath and re-read and underline things, even in a library copy (albeit in pencil). Here's the first one I marked: "How far was it to Dong Tam? Hard to say, all these years later. But it would have been hard to say then too, because distance had become a psychological condition rather than a measurable issue of meters and kilometers. A journey down these roads was endless until you arrived at the end. No 'seems' about it: it was endless until it was over. That was the truth of distance."
Another, this one from the bus shipping him out to Vietnam: "Until now nothing had seemed irrevocable. I had persisted in the unconscious faith that no matter what I did, no matter how many steps I took, I would be excused from taking this last step. Something would happen-I didn't know what....Up to now men had been going over in one long unbroken line, but I hadn't been one of them. My position in the line guaranteeed that something would happen to make it stop." Last one, because it's impossible to have too much of a good thing: "My job was to call in American gunships and medevacs if any were needed. I could even get F-14 Phantom jets if we ran into serious trouble, or trouble that I might consider serious, which would be any kind of trouble at all."
See? Smart, true, and nowhere close to the easy clichés he could have used to describe these moments.
The other thing I noted while reading this book was that the stories in it were told with a sometimes surprising lack of emotion. Wolff's relationship with his father, his role in the war, Hugh's death, his volatile relationship with Vera, the emotional aspects of these aren't dwelt on and sometimes barely even acknowledged. I expected this to bother me more than it actually did, although it did make it a little easier to view Hugh's death as something less traumatic than it was. Overall, though, it granted the stories Wolff tells us a clarity that they likely wouldn't have had with too many emotions in there to muddle them up.
Strong prose, excellent storytelling, very good read."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
