Something About a Soldier [Hardcover]

Charles Willeford (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Willeford joined the Army when he was 16, in the depth of the Depression, and was assigned to the Air Corps. He spent most of his three-year hitch in Manila, "a place where interesting things can happen to a man." This memoir by the author of Miami Blues and The Burnt Orange Heresy is so brutally frank about drinking and whoring in the prePearl Harbor Army that it becomes hilarious when the author remarks, "If a man wasn't careful the Army could coarsen him, and I had to protect my sensitivity if I was ever going to write anything first-rate." Discharged in 1938, Willeford found himself in trouble with the police on Los Angeles's Skid Row, and decided to reenlist. His autobiography is hardboiled and certainly authentic, but short on substance.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Willeford joined the U.S. Army in 1935 at the age of 16. He spent time in the Philippines, in the air corps, and later at Fort Riley, in the cavalry. He recalls some of the less savory aspects of the Depression army, and explains in great detail just how the enlisted men lived. In the four years covered here, he fits in about as many sexual, alcoholic, and military adventures as a young man could reasonably hope to survive. Although this memoir captures the spirit of the prewar army well, its tone of mild braggadocio and its uninspired prose will limit its appeal. For specialized collections of military memorabilia only. Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army TRALINET Ctr., Fort Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (March 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394550226
• ISBN-13: 978-0394550220
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Stuff No-one Else Writes About", June 7, 2008

By 

L. Martin "(Get Mikey to Try It!)" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Something About a Soldier (Hardcover)

I borrowed the title of this review from another reviewer, who hit the nail on the head.

All I can add is that the "stuff" Willeford writes about is working class life, and at nearly the bottom of the barrel at that. This particular stuff needs, and needed, to be written about.

Back in the 1930s, the time period of this book, people knew there were social classes, and some artists (e.g., Steinbeck, James T. Farrell) tried to show the life of the lower ones. In doing so they provided a nice balance in how Americans saw the country.

Today most mass media will not touch working class life. All they show us is upper middle and above. They foster the notion that everyone here is doing just fine, Jack. In fact, more and more people are dropping off the bottom of the middle class into poverty these days. Willeford's two autobiographies tell us a lot about what it's like to be down there once your drop is over.

And he does this in a style that succeeds in Earnest Hemingway's program of stripping down the language better than Hemingway did. in Hemingway's work there is always a sense of the craftsman behind the character, self-consciously paring away language according to his stylistic ideology. Willeford just tells his story in language anyone can follow, period. Little is said about the biographee's emotions in the process, so you are free to provide your own. "How would I feel in that situation?" you find yourself asking again and again. This fosters reader involvement, and also does something else. If smart young Willeford had to do stuff that gross and/or boring to survive, and I am able to understand "there but for fortune go I", then gradually I get a truly visceral idea of just how desperate the times being written of really were.

We need this idea. It might help us want to do something to stop the current slide into recession or worse.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young Soldier in the pre-WW II Army, March 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Something About a Soldier (Mass Market Paperback)

This a great book for anyone who wants to know what life in the pre-WW II US Army was like. This would be a shorter and more realistic companion piece to James Jones "From Here to Eternity". The stories of the Disappointed Bride and Life in the Fading Days of the Cavalry are priceless.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A soldier's story., July 8, 2005

By 

Michael G. "mikefromrochester" (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Something About a Soldier (Hardcover)

Charles Willeford was a decorated hero in WWII. But when it came to compiling his memoirs of military life, he chose to recount his experiences in the pre-war peacetime army, both stateside and overseas in the Philippines.
This book is the author's autobiography covering the years 1935 to 1939 or ages 16 to 20, when he served as an enlisted man first in the Army Air Corps and later in the cavalry.
Since Charles Willeford was a natural born storyteller, it's no surprise Something about a Soldier is an easy and interesting read. Through dozens of anecdotes related by Willeford in his patented deadpan style, a funny but not particularly pretty picture emerges. Senseless bureacracy, out of touch officers, mindless work and counterproductive regulations all conspired to make the author's experience during those years a less than satisfying one.
But there were a couple positive aspects to this time in Willeford's life as well. He had plenty of time to devote to improving his mind through reading. And he enjoyed a very active sex life thanks to the always available prostitutes, camp followers and other willing women that were part of Willeford's military experience. Though to be honest, many of the sexual exploits described sound less than appetizing.
Something about a Soldier is an entertaining and well written memoir. The anecdotes recounted reveal a lot about army life and many of them are pricelessly funny. Worthwhile reading for all Charles Willeford fans.