Goodbye Vietnam [Hardcover]

Robert W. Wood (Author), Robert W. Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

This collection of fictional remembrances of a Marine during the Vietnam conflict is told in a series of short pieces that describe the particular horrors of this war through one man's eyes. From "The Gift," a story about boot camp and his love-hate for the drill sergeant, to "Zelda Waiting," which finds him leaving Vietnam "packed in the back of a truck with all our paraphernalia and our travel brochures," these vignettes take the reader into the dark world of this war. The absurdity of this time is profiled in "Today's Spectators," in which an argument between two South Vietnamese factions plays out like a football game while the Americans eat peanuts and popcorn and watch a fighter plane strafe a convoy of trucks and tanks: "This is a movie. I knew it, I knew it all along." Reminiscent of Apocalypse Now in its treatment of meaninglessness and truthfulness, this book puts the reader square in the middle of a time and a place that even now remains controversial.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A compelling splendid short study that comes close to capturing the real Vietnam War as any Socially Unacceptable authenticity can. -- The Book Reader

An impressively written novel... A compellingly dark, gritty, no-holds-barred view of a truly hellish war -- Midwest Book Review

Like pieces of shrapnel; the words sting and they go deep. -- Leatheneck Magazine

About the Author

Robert W. Wood served in the 3rd Marine Division during the Vietnam War. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Omonomany; 2nd edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590960009
• ISBN-13: 978-1590960004
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Non-Fiction Tales of Vietnam!, May 28, 2007

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Goodbye Vietnam (Hardcover)

Sometimes the truth is best written in the form of fiction so that it can create the mood and emotional stage for the very soul of the storyteller. Such is the case for author Robert W. Wood, with his compilation of short stories in "Goodbye Vietnam". The book works very well in a strange and sometimes bizarre way to convey what it felt like to do a "tour of duty" in Vietnam during that war.

The format that Wood uses to define the Vietnam experience works perfectly in giving the reader an insider look. His use of short pieces that feel sort of like stories or chapters paint us a picture of the horror, the rage and the outright absurdity of this war. It is a brilliant use of loose fitting prose that when read altogether it makes the book feel like journey. The author has created a new path to telling "the emotional truth" by making it fictional.

You may have read many books on war and some on "The Vietnam War" but this is in a class all by itself. I have read and reviewed hundreds of books about Vietnam and many of those were non-fiction--but this one stands out as different, creative and entertaining and in some ways, enlightening, if that can be said about a book that deals with so many issues from killing to sex.

Put this on your gift list for books to buy veterans and even non-veterans. It is an easy book to read but a hard book to put down! I personally endorse this book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A strange work, not like a "real" Vietnam book ..., November 16, 2010

By 

FxyLady - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Goodbye Vietnam (Kindle Edition)

My husband read this book and wrote this review. *This is what he told me to put in the review, HIS words below;

* I am a 2-tour Vietnam Vet. I can relate to stories of combat settings.
Here is my review;
This one is "different." I didn't hate it, but it took a little effort to force myself to get into it.
This writer is a "thinker," but might not connect with many readers, especially non-Vietnam vets. Like I said, 'it took a little effort for me to get into it,' and I am very open-minded. I had trouble following the odd, bizarre dialog inserts, and placement of the settings, of which were not very many settings.
If you can hook-up with the writer's 'voice,'and 'attitude,' it is an easier read. That is how I got through it. It is a short work, very different from what I was expecting. It isn't a war story in the common sense of such, but has a few scenes that were pieces of a very real war.
It won't take you long to go through it, and it doesn't cost much on Amazon to see for yourself.
If you are looking for a Vietnam War book, this isn't it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vividly evokes a fictional yet highly realistic memory, March 11, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goodbye Vietnam (Hardcover)

Wood is an impressively written novel that vividly evokes a fictional yet highly realistic memory of a Marine who served in combat in Vietnan. Offer the reader a compellingly dark, gritty, no-holds-barred view of a truly hellish war, and the toll it took on human life and decency, Goodbye Vietnam belongs on the shelf along side such seminal and memorable works at Joseph L. Heller's "Catch 22" and Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead".