From Publishers Weekly
The author of Johnny's Song (which earned him the title of National Poet Laureate of the Vietnam Veterans of America) attempts to reconcile his Vietnam experiences with his return to America. These poems are a veteran's raw, heartfelt pleas for lasting peace and for a reevaluation of patriotism, nationalism and a government that wars "as a solution to economics/or as a perpetuation of social justice." Verses shift from jarring, often graphic accounts of the atrocities Mason witnessed to strangely peaceful images of his childhood, family and friends. These juxtapositions would be more effective were they not so explicitly spelled out; Mason explains rather than illustrates, and he frequently lapses into didactic sermonizing. Although his message is certainly worthy, Mason's tendency to rely on political rhetoric rather than craft (in "A Living Memorial," for example, he writes, "It is the courage of America/ and the strength of our world/ that the essence of our patriotism/ is not nationalism,/ it is humanity") makes his work more appropriate to forms of expression other than poetry. The introduction by film director Oliver Stone adds nothing of value to this volume.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A contemporary Stephen Crane, Mason dissects patriotism and war's aftermath with pitiless honesty. Male bonding is a touchstone: "Afghans, Viet Cong, you, me, all the others/we were all poor men, better met as brothers." With their stark depictions of senseless death, these hortatory poems resound with a cry for humanity, loyalty, and peace to replace nationalism and war. They are dominated by one 44-page autobiographical poem, "To Brooklyn, With Love," which contrasts Vietnam with Brooklyn of the World War II era. After war's chaos comes the veteran's painful homecoming and readjustment to "broken dreams." A "warrior for peace," Mason is angry, eloquent, without illusionsa poet with a conscience.Frank Allen, Allentown Coll., Center Valley, Pa.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
