The Spectator: A World War II Bomber Pilot's Journal of the Artist as Warrior [Hardcover]

David Zellmer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275962865 | ISBN-13: 978-0275962869 | Publication Date: January 30, 1999

From Greenwich Village to Guadalcanal in just over a year, David Zellmer would find piloting a B-24 bomber in the South Pacific a far cry from his life as a fledgling member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. He soon discovered the unimagined thrills of first flights and the astonishment of learning that an aerial spin was merely a vertical pirouette which one spotted on a barn thousands of feet below, instead of on a doorknob in Martha's studio. Reconstructed from letters home, this captivating account traces Zellmer's journey from New York to the islands of the South Pacific as the 13th Air Force battled to push back the Japanese invaders in 1943 and 1944. Spurred to action by encouraging letters from Martha Graham, who urges him to document his participation in the "great tragic play" of the Second World War, Zellmer struggles to come to terms with the fears and joys of flying, of killing and being killed. Each stage of the battle takes him farther and farther from those he loves, until the soft night breezes and moon-splashed surf no longer work their magic. From bombing runs against Truk, the infamous headquarters of the Japanese Fleet, to much savored slivers of civilization in Auckland and Sydney, the young pilot bemoans a gnawing concern at a loss of sensation, the prospect of life--not as a performer, but as a spectator. With distant memories of life on the stage, he finds that only the threat of death can bring the same intensity of feeling.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

It is fortunate for us that Zellmer, a broadcast writer and producer at CBS, saved his wartime letters to his former choreographer, Martha Graham. These letters of a Graham company dancer turned airman portray his life as a B-24 bomber pilot in the Pacific theater of World War II, where he flew 46 missions. It's all thereAthe endless boredom, brief moments of excitement, and unexpected death. The expressive style is poetic: "I breathe only when attached to the plane's oxygen system. My heart beats only if the propellers are turning. I hear only when the radio is turned on. The plane's wings are my arms; the automatic pilot is my brain." While probably not a required purchase for World War II collections, this vivid, poetic book is definitely worthwhile.ARichard S. Nowicki, Emerson Vocational H.S., Buffalo, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“It is fortunate for us that Zellmer, a broadcast writer and producer at CBS, saved his wartime letters to his former choreographer, Martha Graham....It's all there--the endless boredom, brief moments of excitement, and unexpected death....[T]his vivid, poetic book is definitely worthwhile.”–Library Journal

“Zellmer presents his story in a polished fashion with numerous details of interest even to those who have read widely in the field.”–Wisconsin Magazine of History

“To read his book, which connects the experience of a dancer to the events of World War II, is to expand to our knowledge of both American history and our understanding of how a particular artist related to the extraordinary events around him.”–New York Times

“We can see how the discipline of the dance contributed to his success as an airman--another occupation demanding teamwork with meticulous precision....He accepted hardship and danger uncomplainingly, and has left a record of his experiences that will be of intense interest, not only to historians of the campaign, but to anyone interested in knowing what it was like to be a young American in the 1940s.”–from the foreword by Sir Michael Howard Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University

“Zellmer is no throwback, no Rupert Brooke or Siegfried Sassoon for whom the war is a kind of backdrop. He understands himself as a pilot, member of an air crew and a squadron, who has interrupted his life to drop bombs. But his identity as an artist informs his perceptions throughout, and provides a perspective on the Pacific War that is unusual enough to be called unique.”–Dennis Showalter Professor of History, United States Military Academy

“Zellmer has captured the smells of the tropics, the color of clouds and sunsets, the memories of home and those far away, and the loyalties that men engaged in a fierce struggle for survival must cherish. He has recaptured for our technological age, where all take for granted the experiences, sounds, and sensations of flight, the feelings of another age where flight, even under the conditions of fear and terror, brought a sense of awe and beauty to those who flew.”–from the foreword by Williamson Murray Professor of Military History, US Army War College

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (January 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275962865
• ISBN-13: 978-0275962869
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,200,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Dancers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch memoir of a dancer turned bomber pilot, March 15, 1999

By 

Dianne Bauer ([e-mail]) (Dedham, MA (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spectator: A World War II Bomber Pilot's Journal of the Artist as Warrior (Hardcover)

I am grateful for Mr. Zellmer's detailed memoir of his life as a bomber pilot in the South Pacific. Although my own father served in the Army Air Corps fighting the Japanese, he never shared his frightening experiences with our family. This books allows the reader an opportunity to know the sights, the beauty, the fears, the excitement and the boredom of war in tropical lands. In addition to allowing us inside the cockpit during his first flights and later his bombing missions, Zellmer gives the reader a front row seat into the world he came from, the on stage world of Martha Graham's Dance Company. It's apparent that the author spent long years researching the era, as well as putting together his combat experience from letters written home to family and friends. I found this both a compelling and an informative read.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zellmer's point of view is new and refreshing, April 21, 1999

By 

Brendan Curtis ([e-mail]) (Boston, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spectator: A World War II Bomber Pilot's Journal of the Artist as Warrior (Hardcover)

Most WWII stories are told with a "gung-ho" American point of view. And although David Zellmer never expresses a problem with U.S. policy, his point of view is so far removed from the general collective, that it becomes inspiring and mind-blowingly real, because of his ability to bring the reader into his young, cynical, and advanced observation of the war machine. He performes his duty without question. But he expresses a distaste for the loss of civilians, and maintains his commitment to his job with a powerfull artists eye. He notices things that anaverage WWII soldier would never dream of. As you read and become involved in this 26 year old's life, you start to forget what the war was about yourself. Ultimately, his visions do not try to downplay the moral and national justifications of the war, but rather let you in on the workings of a mind, sometimes self-absorbed, with the best intentions at heart. His absolute love of the art of flying combined with all of his other observations will stay with the reader forever.