All Souls' Day [Hardcover]

Bill Morris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

A scaldingly hotJanuary day in 1963 is the happiest of Sam Malloy's life, as he watches a mint condition, pink and black 1954 Buick Century being lowered onto the Klong Toey dock in Bangkok, Thailand. The historic 500,000th Buick manufactured in 1954, this is the last of seven originally purchased by Sam's father and six of his neighbors in Levittown, Long Island. Sam has already acquired the other half dozen. And now his collection is complete, and it's time for the good times to roll.

A former U.S. Navy frogman and present co-owner of Bangkok's famous White Elephant Hotel, Sam dreams that the Buicks and his new life in Bangkok will help him escape from the horrors he has witnessed in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Only his business partner, Rathavorn "Rat" Saengbangpla, understands Sam's obsession with escaping their shared past.

And then Sam meets Anne Sinclair, a beautihl, young idealist with the U.S. Information Service in Saigon. As two Americans far from home are swept up in the violent, unalterable rush of events in the dying days of 1963, startling truths about a nasty little war propel Anne into Sam Malloy's arms--and both of them into a dreaded world of dubious acts and their harrowing consequences.

A breathtaking novel of scope, intelligence and brilliant invention, Bill Morris' All Souls' Day is a remarkable amalgam of real history and imagined events, blending fictional characters with actual peoplc from journalist David Halberstam to PresidentJohn F. Kennedy to actor Marlon Brando--in a gripping, strikingly original tale of passion, conscience and American misadventure on the far side of the world.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The year is 1963, the place Southeast Asia. Discharged early from the U.S. Navy, Sam Malloy is estranged from America and running a hotel in Bangkok. His brother, Charlie, is in Saigon covering the Vietnam War for Time magazine. Anne Sinclair, a lovely, idealistic young assistant to the director of the U.S. Information Service, is becoming tormented by the lies she must write on behalf of the U.S. government. Charlie introduces Anne to Sam, and, to coin a phrase, the rest is history. They share their darkest secrets, commiserate about America's involvement in the war effort, and resolve to do something about it. Reminiscent of C.J. Koch's The Year of Living Dangerously, this is a tale of love, war, and disillusionment. The story is enhanced by the inclusion of real-life figures; fact and fiction blend to create a highly engaging story. Recommended for all collections.?Kimberly G. Allen, MCI Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

It's 1963, and Sam Malloy, attempting to put his haunting memories of the Vietnam War behind him, has settled in Bangkok, where he has imported seven neon-colored 1954 Buicks, which he hopes to rent out for big bucks. Anne Sinclair, working in the U.S. Information Service in Saigon, is growing increasingly disillusioned with the discrepancy between official press releases and secret documents detailing the American role in the war. Their love story is set against their struggle to come to terms with what they know about the war and what they can do to impact the events swirling around them. As in his previous historical novel, Motor City (1992), Morris incorporates real-life events (the Buddhists' self-immolation) and people (Marlon Brando, David Halberstam). Although the name and work of Graham Greene are regularly invoked, Morris' own characters are so amiable and good-hearted that there is no real or compelling moral conflict here. Still, Morris is an engaging writer who knows how to tell a story. Joanne Wilkinson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380974533
• ISBN-13: 978-0380974535
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,943,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What goes around comes around, July 3, 2003

By 

"briggsok" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Souls' Day (Hardcover)

This novel, written in 1997, could not be read at a better time. Just as the US keeps sliding in to military adventures today, All Soul's Day presents an exciting fictional tour of how the Vietnam tragedy developed. As their Government is slipping and sliding into a political involvement that can only be described criminal, the stories characters try to make a stand against what they know is wrong. Bill Morris writes as if he has actually lived through the events he portraits and the line between fact and fiction emerges as a truley thin one. As patriotism and exile go hand in hand in this story, Morris provides his US readers with plenty of food for thought. May they be able to connect the dots.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars too bad, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: All Souls' Day (Mass Market Paperback)

This man is simply inadequate to the telling of this tale. The material is there, god know's it is, but in the hands of this writer it amounts to something less than nothing. To take matters of such central value to the culture and render them silly, faint and pretentious is to do less than nothing. The prime question is whether to feel worse at the wasting of the epic material or over the sloppy lunk-headed prose. This fella is clumsy but, it would seem, convinced that his clumsiness is actually a form of brilliance. May I suggest a semester at JUCO?