Jungle in Black is the memoir of Steve Maguire, a young Airborne-Ranger who commanded a 9th Infantry Division Battalion Recon Platoon in the Mekong Delta.It was there that an exploding Viet Cong mine blinded him for life. He lost his sight, but not his courage. Jungle in Black is an honest first-person account that never wallows in self-pity as the author reassembles his life in a country that turned its back on the war. Set in Vietnam, Japan, and Washington DC, this powerful human drama details one man's successful struggle against a war's desolation.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This Vietnam memoir is well-written and fast-paced but hardly substantial. A gung-ho Airborne Ranger, Maguire fought valiantly until a Vietcong mine destroyed one eye and blinded the other. The tale opens with lengthy and generic combat descriptions that lead up to Maguire's wounding; the rest of the book covers his rehabilitation. Though Maguire describes himself as "re-created . . . from a romantic war novel" and displays himself as bloodthirsty and xenophobic, he never offers enough about his life and background to round out his person. Rather than detail how he coped with his blindness and earned a doctorate in psychology (revealed in an epilogue), he paints a broad portrait of the early stages of rehab, full of macho talk, lust for nurses and hopes dashed by doctors. The main focus of the book is Maguire's quest for a woman. He happily recalls a carefully orchestrated double date during which his buddy claimed they fought lions and natives in Africa. He burned at his friends' pity for him, but wouldn't reject the prostitute they provided. He finally found love with a thoughtful college student named Susan, allowing him to move on.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"He possesses the true vision of wisdom, love and meaningful accomplishment. A moving story. My strongest endorsement." -- General Barry R. McCaffery
"I can say with confidence that no one with 20-20 vision has accomplished what Mr. Maguire has done..." -- William F. Buckley, Jr.
"Maguire provides a moving, entertaining and uplifting account..." -- The Retired Officer Magazine
"I can say with confidence that no one with 20-20 vision has accomplished what Mr. Maguire has done..." -- William F. Buckley, Jr.
"Maguire provides a moving, entertaining and uplifting account..." -- The Retired Officer Magazine
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Just Another War Story Memoir,
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This review is from: Jungle in Black (Mass Market Paperback)
Jungle in Black is the memoir of Steve Maguire. McGuire was a young, gung-ho, Airborne Ranger who commanded a 9th Infantry Division battalion Reconnaissance Platoon in the 6th Battalion, 31st Infantry in the Mekong Delta. The story opens with drawn-out and generic combat descriptions that lead up to Maguire's wounding. The rest of the book covers his treatment. We learn that an exploding Vietcong mine blinded him for life. This is an honest first-person account that never wallows in self-pity. Unfortunately, he in no way offers sufficient background about his life to round out his person. He missed the mark with his book. He paints a broad description of the early stages of rehab. The description covers the usual male boasting, lust for nurses and hopes dashed by physicians not healing or restoring his sight. He fails to feature how he coped with his loss of sight and earned a doctorate in psychology (not mentioned until in an epilogue). This could have been a very inspirational and motivational story; instead it's just another war story memoir.
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