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Paco’s Story Audiobook
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(3.05) - 296 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Paco Sullivan is the only man in Alpha Company to survive a cataclysmic Vietcong attack on Fire Base Harriette in Vietnam. Everyone else is annihilated.
When a medic finally rescues him almost two days later, Paco is waiting to die, flies and maggots covering his burnt, shattered body. He winds up back in the United States with his legs full of pins, daily rations of Librium and Valium, and no sense of what to do next.
One evening, on the tail of a rainstorm, he limps off a bus and into the small town of Boone, determined to find a real job and a real bed, but no matter how hard he works, nothing muffles the anguish in his mind and body.
Brilliantly and vividly written, Paco’s Story plunges the reader into the violence and casual cruelty of the Vietnam War and the ghostly aftermath that often dealt the harshest blows.
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"Audiobook...........Stark, disturbing, evocative..........Try to imagine being a living ghost, whom no one really sees, disfigured by war wounds after supposedly fighting for your country, and the sole survivor of an attack on your unit in Vietnam. Enough said!"
— Ferris (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Heinemann writes about the workingman’s Vietnam, exceptional for its bleak, shared, unexceptional reality.
— Philadelphia Inquirer -
“Paco’s Story deserves a place among the best Vietnam war novels.”
— Providence Sunday Journal -
“Larry Heinemann is…the grunt’s novelist of the Vietnam War. His is the storytelling of life and death…a life of dirt, fear, dope, alcohol, brutality, curses, and evil.”
— Washington Post Book World -
“Intense, vividly written…a very frightening, yet wondrously rendered tale of violent extremes of human behavior.”
— Library Journal
Awards
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Winner of the 1987 National Book Award for Fiction
Paco’s Story Listener Reviews
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" Absolutely fascinating and life-changing novel. Besides the fact that I actually finished this book for class, it was such a gripping and heart-wrenching tale. I cannot wait to read more from Larry Heinemann! "
— Ana, 2/10/2014 -
" Account of the survivor of a Vietnam massacre, and his life after he returns to the U.S. Stark reading, but it gives a good feel for what these guys had/have to endure. "
— Tom, 12/24/2013 -
" the horror...the horror "
— Rick, 12/20/2013 -
" Larry Heinemann described the Vietnam Memorial long before it was designed and he hit it right on the head. "
— Johnplavelle, 12/17/2013 -
" I still remember the haunting feeling I experienced when I realized "who" is the narrator of Paco's Story. "
— Rebecca, 12/12/2013 -
" How does one write in such a way that every sentence is poetry...? "
— Dan, 12/7/2013 -
" It's no "The Things They Carried," but then it's not trying to be. Depressing but good. "
— Sarah, 10/21/2013 -
" Richly descriptive, an American story through and through, totally unforgettable, so glad to have read this story. "
— Kimberley, 3/25/2013 -
" if you could give 1/2 stars, this would rate a 3.5. it won the nat'l book award, and i really enjoyed it, but it was a little rough around the edges. still. anyone interested in vietnam lit has to read this. "
— Eddie, 1/28/2012 -
" Elegant, brutal, timeless. Should be on more reading lists. If you've read or teach Tim O'Brien's work, assign this as well. Just read it. "
— Ann-marie, 9/24/2011 -
" Incredible piece of work! "
— Tony, 8/21/2011 -
" I loved this book and the description and the reality of the Vietnam War "
— Melissa, 8/13/2011 -
" Another great Nam book. "
— Neil, 11/7/2009 -
" How this won the National Book Award is beyond me. Foul, vulgar language, boring story and no redeeming value/moral/point. "
— Nic, 9/17/2009 -
" An incredibly disturbing story, but powerful as well. There are some scenes of extreme violence, but the voice is true. An important novel for those interested in the soldier's experience of Vietnam-and after. "
— Ms.P, 6/10/2009 -
" There is a scene in this book that was so powerful that I startled when I read it. "
— Paul, 7/11/2007 -
" A good story, well told, though some parts are hard to get through. "
— Jim, 11/8/2006
About Larry Heinemann
Larry 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.
About Richard Ferrone
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.