Cherish the Magic [Paperback]

Gioacchino Giampapa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 2000

DENY THEM THE NIGHT Credo of a little known fighting force, half of which spent their combat career without pay, without complaint, and until now, with little if any praise. Cherish The Magic brings home those who were left behind in a gripping novel of men tasked with doing the right thing.In a war where high technology and military might dominated the daylight, pajama-clad peasants and pith-helmeted North Vietnamese regulars were masters of the darknessand in that darkness, the fate of downed American flyers lay.Gianni Giancarlo, a Fort Lauderdale teenager too scared to join the Army enlists instead in the Air Force, where only pilots see combat, or so he thought, and is thrust into the journey from youthful innocence to the hellish realities of manhood. From the sandy beaches of Florida to the jungles of Vietnam, partnered with a mule-eared German Shepherd named Shadrack, Gianni learns that survival can be worse than death and that doing the right thing is the true measure of a man.Cherish The Magic is more than a novel; it is how we all would like to live.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gioacchino (Jack) Giampapa served as an Air Force Patrol Dog Handler assigned to the Presidential Protection Detail in support of President Nixon. After discharge he joined the Dade County Public Saftey Department, (Miami, Florida) where he was a member of its original Hostage Rescue Team. He now resides in Colorado and Florida.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (July 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595006876
• ISBN-13: 978-0595006878
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,874,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unknown author clears the bar of excellence., November 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cherish the Magic (Paperback)

Where ever this author has been hiding he needs to be hunted down, captured, locked in a room and forced to write more books. Fear not that Clancy may have peaked and is now on the downward slide... Cherish the Magic, with its main character Gianni Giancarlo will make you ask, Jack Ryan who? Based on an uncommonly enthusiastic recommendation of a friend I ordered Cherish the Magic online and had completely forgotten about it by the time it arrived but was more than pleased when an intended few minutes of reading on a Friday night turned into a reading marathon early Saturday morning. After a few hours of much needed sleep and household chores put on hold the conclussion of the book was not a wanted respite... indeed it accomplished what few others have been able to do...wishing for another hundred pages. Based in the Vietnam time period Cherish the Magic is far from a book about war or its all too well known vulgarities. It's about doing the right thing... even if it's not in your best interest. Perhaps the book is so powerful because it is such a sharp contrast to our declining values or perhaps it's refreshing to see a teenager unashamedly voice his love for his parents or perhaps it's because of a dog that seems to value his master's life as much as his master values his. No matter the reason, whether you're sixteen or sixty-five if you don't laugh until you're blue in the face and cry until you buy stock in Kleenex you're not human. It's a shame that this book came out by a small publisher, I've never heard of iuniverse, had it been promoted by a large, well known house surely there would be countless reviews and at this moment be sitting on the bestseller list. Don't let the 'first time author' moniker scare you... buy, borrow or steal this book, you'll be glad you did.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unknown Author....A Great Surprise, August 18, 2001

By 

Susie Rigsby "([e-mail])" (Eldorado, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cherish the Magic (Paperback)

What a nice surprise! I managed to get my hands on a copy of Giampapa's "Cherish the Magic". Once I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down, finished it in two days. I'm a romantaic and really wasn't sure what to expect from this author at first. Obviously a story based on the Viet Nam era, I expected a war story, but figured somewhere along the way, boy would meet girl, fall in love and come home from Nam a hero to live happily ever after. Well, I have to admit, the hero's welcome home was indeed a happy ending, but it was nothing like I expected. The relationship young Gianni Giancarlo developed as an Air Force Dog Handler with the German Shepherd, Shadrack, was as heart warming as any Rin Tin Tin movie I ever watched. I would have to say, the author of this book put me right in the middle of the Viet Nam war, with both the Army and the Air Force. Every move he made with the special trained Canine had me making the move with them. His research into this book had to be extensive to describe the scenes so extensively. The talent of this author is sharply displayed. The missions of the search and rescue for downed Air Force pilots were truly amazing. For a writer to hold a woman's interest in a war story as this writer held mine, he has my utmost respect as a talented new big name author. This book had me laughing, crying and mad when the story ended and I couldn't read any more. I'll keep watching for the name of Gioacchino Giampapa in hopes he's writing something else. If he is, I'll be wanting to read the next piece of work this new talent gets put in print.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect condition!, April 21, 2010

By 

Ann Marie (Wooster, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cherish the Magic (Paperback)

I ordered 2 books and they both look like no one had ever opened them up. Great experience!