From the moment his first novel was published, Larry Heinemann joined the ranks of the great chroniclers of the Vietnam conflict: Philip Caputo, Tim O’Brien, and Gustav Hasford.
In the stripped-down, unsullied patois of an ordinary soldier, draftee Philip Dosier tells his story of the war. Straight from high school, too young to vote or buy himself a drink, he enters a world of mud and heat, blood and body counts, ambushes and firefights. It is here that he embarks on the brutal downward path to wisdom that awaits every soldier.
In the tradition of The Naked and the Dead and The Thin Red Line, Close Quarters is the harrowing story of how a decent kid from Chicago endures an extraordinary trial and returns profoundly altered to a world on the threshold of change.
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"Brutal. Not as hopeless as Paco's Story, but a seemingly authentic study of how a bright idealistic boy becomes a terrifying killer by fighting in the Vietnam Conflict. Heinemann does not pull any punches in his graphic depiction of what must have been hell on earth."
— John (5 out of 5 stars)
“An unremittingly honest look into the black pit of war…Larry Heinemann’s voice is clear and true.”
— New York Times“Close Quarters can stand with the finest Vietnam writing, fact or fiction.”
— Chicago Tribune“The best work of fiction to come out of the Vietnam War.”
— Houston Chronicle“The most ambitious and substantial novel about the war in Vietnam…The first one that people can read seventy-five years from now and gain an insight into how the war was truly fought…Following the talk of the soldiers, you feel more like an eavesdropper than a reader.”
— Kansas City Star" One of the best novels on the war from a soldier's existential pt of view. Doesn't let the moral ambiguities of the conflict get in its way. "
— Stephan, 10/12/2011" Very simply: one of the finest Vietnam War novels. Hard, crisp, intelligent, powerful. "
— DoctorM, 8/7/2011" I'm not big on war novels, but I read this one for a 60's history class and ended up being sucked into the story. "
— Brooke, 3/29/2008Larry Heinemann is an American novelist born and raised in Chicago .His novel Paco’s Story won the National Book Award. His body of work—three novels and a memoir—is primarily concerned with the Vietnam War. He served a combat tour as a conscripted draftee in Viet Nam from 1967 to 1968 with the 25th Infantry Division and has described himself as the most ordinary of soldiers.
Richard Ferrone recorded over 150 audiobooks including thrillers, romances, science fiction, and inspirational novels. He won the prestigious Audie Award and was a finalist for four Audie Awards, including for Best Solo Male Narrator. He was named an AudioFile "Voice of the Last Century" and a "Rising and Shining Star." He earned many AudioFile Earphones Awards, including being named the 2011 Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense as well as the 2009 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. A science fiction fan, he narrated Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy. He also narrated works by James Patterson, Walter Mosley, John Sandford, Eric Van Lustbader, and Stuart Woods.