Exploring the bizarre and fascinating realm of amusement parks, this book presents a collection of true stories and trivia that highlight the oddities found in rides and attractions. Readers will encounter a variety of unusual facts and strange occurrences, making it an entertaining and informative experience for fans of the quirky side of amusement parks.
One of the first questions about this work is whether it is a novel or a collection of short stories. The title page labels it simply as "a work of fiction," challenging readers to categorize it. It is both: a series of interrelated pieces that read with the dramatic force of a novel. Each of the twenty-two pieces is crafted with emotional depth and precision, allowing it to stand alone. The narrative centers on the men of Alpha Company—Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and Tim O'Brien, who survives his Vietnam tour to become a father and writer at forty-three. They confront not only the enemy but also their own fears and isolation. They long for their families and the lives they left behind, yet they find connection and compassion among themselves and even with strangers. Through their stories, we glimpse their vulnerabilities and the bonds formed in the face of adversity. With a blend of compelling fiction and intimate autobiography, this work serves as a tribute to those who risked their lives in a controversial war, reflecting on the frailty of humanity. Ultimately, it highlights the courage, determination, and luck necessary for survival.
The bestselling author of The Things They Carried and If I Die in a Combat Zone shares wisdom from a life in letters, lessons learned in wartime, and the challenges, humour and rewards of raising two sons.
"To call Going After Cacciato a novel about war is like calling Moby-Dick a novel about whales Going After Cacciato is a fully dramatized account of men both in action and escaping from it....Clearly we are dealing here with what the new South American novelists would call 'magical realism'. To combine the two and make the result esthetically convincing is a major achievement." -- The New York Times Book Review "Magical and inspiring...truly incomparable! Every war has its chroniclers of fear and flight, its Stephen Cranes and Joseph Hellers. Time O'Brien joins their number." -- Philadelphia Inquirer Cacciato is one dumb soldier. He is walking away from war. Across mountains and deserts and swamps, hiking the 8600 miles from Vietnam to the lights of Gay Paree. To civilization. To peace. But that's insane. Isn't it? So a squad of fellow soldiers goes after crazy Cacciato. Their mission: bring him back to reality. Or else
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereA CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE THINGS THEY CARRIEDBefore writing his award-winning Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien gave us this intensely personal account of his year as a foot soldier in Vietnam. 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.Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content
At the thirtieth reunion of the Darton Hall College class of 1969, ten old friends join their classmates for a summer weekend of dancing, drinking, flirting, reminiscing, and regret. The three decades since graduation have brought marriage and divorce, children and careers, hopes deferred and replaced. July, July tells the heart-rending and often hilarious story of men and women who came into adulthood at a moment when American ideals and innocence began to fade. These lives will ring familiar to anyone who has dreamed, worked, and struggled to keep course toward a happy ending.
A Vietnam veteran investigates the death of his wife while being accused of her murder.
At a thirty-year reunion, a group of old friends tell the story of their lives - and the story of a generation - in this brilliant new novel from one of America's most celebrated writers. 'Tim O'Brien is the best American writer of his generation.' San Francisco Examiner Acclaimed for his award-winning fiction about the Vietnam War, Tim O'Brien now enters the territory of John Irving and Joseph Heller to take on the war between the sexes - and creates a masterpiece of black comedy. A wickedly accurate portrait of obsessive love that manages to be both fiercely comic and profoundly moving, Tomcat in Love introduces a blundering, modern-day Don Juan who captures the desires and bewilderment of men everywhere - Thomas Chippering, a pompous linguistics professor and incorrigible flirt, whose wife has left him for a suntanned tycoon. Determined to win her back, or at least wreck her new relationship, he heads for Florida - and a hurricane of trouble.
The acclaimed novel from the award-winning author of If I Die in a Combat Zone', Going After Cacciato' and `In the Lake of the Woods'.
"A step-by-step guide to Java persistence"--Cover.
