Customer Reviews

Danger Close

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The timing of my coming to the end of this book could not be more appropriate. Mike knows what I mean, and I strongly recommend this book to anyone who remembers how important Mothers are, and to those who may need a bit of reminding.

This work is about many, many issues. I believe that everyone can find a part of themselves in this book. Please do not be put off thinking this is a book for guys, a book about the Military. The service was a big part of the life he describes, it is a part of the story, not the entire experience.

I was asked to "have a look" at this book, and in keeping with my statements on my personal page, I want anyone who reads this review to know that. This is the first time I have done this, as I believed people might not feel I was being objective. However, I was free to read or not read the book, to comment or not comment. I read the entire book, and I am pleased that I did.

This book has a different rhythm than most books I have read. I believe the reason is that there was not a Publisher questioning and commercializing what is an amazing story for a young man. This book reads like real life, the irony is that many times books are praised because "it made a person feel as though they were there". With an autobiography, very often there will be a second name that is involved to a degree in writing the book. Mike Yon wrote this book, and the following is a compliment, there are times the writing is offered with two many short thoughts that certainly could have been massaged to be more "elegant", but it would have killed the book.

A neat evolution takes place in this book. As Mike tells his story he matures as a writer as his life goes on. The epilogue hints at the writing skills he will refine, just as he developed all the other talents he has. His sometimes very painful childhood memories are presented just that way, painfully, candidly, the way a young man would think of them as they happened. Mike also looks back with the distance of years at the same events sharing his philosophy on parts of life with wisdom well in excess of his years.

Mike could have become a statistic, as a child he was put through hell in countless ways, he witnessed the behavior of a Stepmother that was sadistic, but at 18 he became a member of this Country's Elite Special Forces. He did not become a burden to anyone; he became an asset for us all.

At the moment of great personal triumph, circumstances landed him in jail facing a murder charge. All he had accomplished was virtually guaranteed to be destroyed. I believe it would have destroyed people with "normal childhoods" much less the hand he was dealt.

This is a brutally candid book that took a great deal of courage to write much less publish. He never "sold out" his story, and this book should not be confused with people who seem to enjoy sensationalizing their misery and that of others for a buck. The bestseller list at this moment contains one, and readers thankfully have trashed it.

The only reason I wish Mike had gone with a "Name" for a publisher is that this work would have gained a much larger audience. I know the story would have lost some of its intensity, but his decision to produce the book as he did is consistent with the person he is. His being faithful to his story was more important than the number of books he would sell.

This is a great read. It is at times painful, at other moments upsetting. In the end you will feel admiration for the man who gives so much credit to his Mother, and to his Grandparents. A woman named Viola helped, and her entrance into his life is described with some of the best humor I have read. She probably deserves her own book.

The ending of this book is imperfect just as real life is; the Author remained true to himself and his experiences. I felt very good with his final thoughts, like the book they were real. A positive ending, not a contrived, slick, happily ever after bit of nonsense.

I believe this Author has a great deal more to say, and I look forward to listening!

This poignant biographical work hits you in all places of your heart. At times laughing with him and at other times feeling the heartwrenching pain with him, this book captures your attention from page one to the end. While retelling his captivating adventures of being a Green Beret with the US Army, he also includes the less exciting and heartwrenching details of his life--including the untimely death of his mother. I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I was done with it. This book is great for military and civilians alike! If a submarine-hunting P-3 flier can enjoy this book, so can you. Mike Yon candidly opens up and relates life--as is. If you relish the adventure of fiction with the down-to-earth punch of reality, this book is for you!

I didn't use to read a lot, I was surfing the net when I heard of this book. I got it shipped to Sweden from the nice guys at AppliePie, by e-mailing (!) them.

Seeing the fun and joy of the beginning of his life is like looking at my own at a certain age, you become one with the book. The very good descriptive way that he (Mike Yon of course) tells you his life, is amazing. The feelings coming through reading this book is tough, I had to lay the book down for a week.

The hell he went through after his first 7 years was amazing, the whole book is amazing if you ask me.

The book gives you faith, it makes you wanna fight. Parts of my life has been hard. I've had times when I thought seriously about suicide (planing it and all), then I thought it was weak and that I was a fighter so way would I do it? But then I was bouncing between those options becuz of the question "why live?". Now I can truthfully say that I won't help death dealing with me. This book gave me faith, strength and something that I really need and needed, a big brother. The brother I never had. Someone to look upto. Someone you in a way you wanna become, but in the end you don't. You realize the pain that is everywhere, in your life, and his life. Why try to get his when you can change yours? Lot's of questions like this came up but more about confidence. Now I can say "I won't give up!" "I will never give up, I will make it!". That is something I couldn't do before.

I think that everybody either needs help or some kinda encouragement. In my case encouragment. This book won't tell you you're the best and that he is a super-man-invincible-green-beret rather it will make you stand up and see how horrible life can be, and at the same time there is a away out. I guess it's not the same thing as making Special Forces training and it's not telling you what todo, it's showing you that you can make a good thing out of bad experience. That's my point of view.

A review can't justify this book, it will teach you, make you grow up, make you human, learn you not to give up. and a lot more.

Description of book: Astonishing.

Military have always been in the back of my head, now I know I wanna become a special forces soldier.

Dear Amazon Books,

I recently finished reading Mike Yon's autobiography "Danger Close". Mr. Yon's moving and intensely personal story had a profound affect on me, in that I was finally able to understand and articulate some large issues in my own life.

Similar to Mr. Yon, I too lost a parent at an early age, and I also "grew up" as a young man in the Army. My father was taken from me in a tragic incident when I was 5 years old. There was no other father-figure in my life until I came under the care and guidance of some truly great NCOs.

It was painful and difficult to read of his mother's death, and I had to put the book down for a while. It was two weeks before I could pick it up again, and continue.

I believe Mr. Yon's story is both inspiring and an open challenge to every young person today that is the product of disadvantage and hardship, a broken home or dysfunctional family. The message in Danger Close is, "Yes, you can make it! You will succeed if you'll only reach down deep enough. Never quit!".

Thank you, Mike, for a great story.

And thanks for showing us where the energy points are.

Chief Warrant Officer John Liner US Army, Retired

I have just finished reading Mike Yon's book "Danger Close" and found it to be one of those "can't put it down" type of books. I was captivated by it until the very end. It is an accurate account of the times and events that occurred in his life. I can say that because I was present during some of the events. I was in that Special forces class going through the "Q Course" and I remember the news of his arrest. After the course, everyone went their seperate ways and it wasn't until this past year that I learned of Mike's fate when I saw the book. It is must reading for anyone wanting to get an insight into life in SF and the life of a winner. To Mike, I say, BON CHANCE!!

As a freelance editor and book reviewer, I am usually too preoccupied with submissions from the "major" publishers to pay attention to self-published books (although historically, the self-publishing pond has bred fine and acclaimed work). Yet a few months ago, after hearing about Danger Close on National Public Radio's "Summer Reading List," I decided to order a copy. Ninety days later I'm still thinking about this book.

Danger Close is many things: a memoir, an adventure story, a coming-of-age story, a lament. It manages to be so much at once because Michael Yon decided against hiring someone like me to tease out "the main story" and toss out or polish away the rest. For some readers--and many publishers, I'm sure--this would seem a liability. In my opinion, however, the author's insistence on telling his story precisely as he chooses makes for a work that is--from one page to the next- intelligent, raw and brutal, hilarious at times, and decidedly itself.

The narrative that frames the work, i.e., the story of how Yon becomes a Green Beret at the age of nineteen, how he comes to face murder charges, and moves on, will certainly attract a certain readership. But action is not, in my view, what carries the story. The "real" story is far subtler. Yon has written a familiar, classic human narrative: a young person suffers losses and betrayals at an early age, survives/transcends these ordeals, and emerges transformed. Here, Yon ultimately emerges a writer--a defiant one, an opinionated one, and one who has managed to evade slickness and pretension so that, at his best, his stories are lucid, heartwrecking, and true.

The author's decision to use multiple fonts, italics, hand drawings, and so forth may disconcert some readers. But to me, these quirks help define what is memorable about the book. (And why it is fully deserving of the William A. Gurley award for creative nonfiction.) Ultimately, Danger Close is sort of gloriously imperfect: funny, tragic, and over the top--but also, undeniably, very moving.

"Danger Close," what does that mean? Well, according to Mike Yon's book, it's a military term, but it has a double meaning: "Everything can go from fun and games to life and death in a single breath." And it doesn't just sound good; for Mike Yon, it's the absolute truth. This is his life. This book is, in short, stunning. Mike's experiences, from early childhood to Special Forces training to being charged with murder, are related elegantly yet understandably in his humorous and easy-to-read style. From page one, we are drawn in and made to care. Mike Yon does not simply tell the story; he makes us live it, as if we were right there with him or watching a movie of his life. He lets us feel what it is like to encounter danger and escape alive; he allows us to see the magic he saw as a child; he takes us with him to exotic places and through deeply personal yet hauntingly familiar states of mind. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to walk an amazing twenty years in another man's shoes.

I bought this book after having heard about it on National Public Radio, and having seen the author on television. I have never read a book like this. The author did an excellent job at the "sentence level," and at the "chapter level," but it was the arrangement of chapters which I at first did not like. I read several books per week, and rarely review one, but this one just, well, jolted the heck out of me. By the end of the book I realized the construction was not an accident, but very creative and, in a word, excellent. It is hard to believe this book was self-published, and just goes to show why so many of the most creative come from "out of the woods." No mainstream editor (I imagine) would have let this book be published in its current form. It's just too different. He can be incredibly funny, but was constantly scaring the bee-jeebers out of me, or had me laughing and crying at the same time. I hope the writer reads his reviews. If you do, Mr. Yon, don't sell out for the bucks!

Although many would be more impressed with the fact that Mike Yon graduated Special Forces training at such an early age and faced other challenges in his life with resolute courage, I suspect it was a far greater challenge to be so honest and open about the personal issues he shares with us in Danger Close. He is a principled man of unflinching integrity and I eagerly await his next book.

It was the first day at summer school before 10th grade. I took a creative writing class to get some extra credit towards High School graduation and a good GPA. My teacher gave us a choice of three books to read so we could discuss writing styles, one book of which was Danger Close. My teacher read the book in 4 days while on her vacation and decided we could learn alot about expression and writing style from it since Mike Yon makes you feel like you're with him in the whole book. I was so amazed at what I learned about life and how other kids can overcome problems by just taking time to think about what is right. Danger Close is the best and well written book I've read since the beginning of Jr. High School. It is so good, my Dad is even reading it. My mom and sister would dig it too. Our class ended and I got an 'A' because I was really into this book. I'm also going to join ROTC this coming year. I think everyone should read Danger Close because it's a really great book that you just can't stop reading.