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Baby Jack: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: squad bay, yellow footprints, parade deck, Marine Corps, Parris Island, Baby Jack (more...)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back by Frank Schaeffer

Baby Jack: A Novel + Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Schaeffer, the author of two nonfiction books based on his experience of having a family member on active duty in the Middle East, treats similar themes in his new novel. Self--absorbed painter Todd Ogden and his patrician wife, Sarah, are stunned when their 18-year-old son, Jack, the product of prestigious prep schools, enlists in the marines. Moving from cajolery to cold fury, Todd finally refuses to speak to his son. Meanwhile, Jack finds the camaraderie and dedication of his drill instructors and fellow marines to be a welcome change. The majority of the novel, however, is devoted to how the parents deal with their guilt and grief when Jack is deployed to the Middle East and killed one week later. In reductive fashion, Schaeffer contrasts the full-blown patriotism of the enlisted with the selfishness of the upper classes. An irreverent God makes an appearance, as does the ghost of the dead marine. In the end, too many broad strokes and the wide variance in tone weaken the novel's effect, although the vivid portrayal of the appeal of the military sets the story apart from much war fiction. Given the subject, expect some off-the-book-page interest. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review

"Schaeffer makes this concise chorus of social conviction moving and memorable by emphasizing emotion..." -- USA Today

"Tour de force... Baby Jack is a triumph and a modern masterpiece. Read it and be moved." -- Ward Carroll, Military.com

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 356 pages
  • Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 11, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786717165
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786717163
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #911,831 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Schaeffer
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book, September 2, 2006
Frank Schaeffer is my father, and as such you might expect me to be biased (which I won't deny), but if you look at any of the other reviews on any of his other books on this site (which I encourage you to do) you will see that I have written nothing about them. I never even put a plug in for Keeping Faith-A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps, which we wrote together. I have read and liked them all, and I hope you also will read them, but never before has one of his books affected me as this one has. I see how the life of a family very like my own might have played out if things had been just a little different, if someone like me had never returned from a war zone. The experience of reading BABY JACK was akin to George Bailey's in It's a Wonderful Life, watching the life of everyone around him play out as if he had never existed. Reading BABY JACK was both a surreal and wonderful experience at the same time and I hope that you will read Dad's book and glimpse how the life of a family can be forever changed by a single choice or a single event.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Once a Marine: BABY JACK relived, September 6, 2006
By James L. Kring (La Mesa, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Great war stories are not about combat. They are about the fractured lives and wounded souls of the combatants -- in and out of uniform. In BABY JACK, Frank Schaeffer captures the raw humanity of Jack Ogden's story as no other other war novel I have read. He also offers the hope that understanding, reconciliation, and spiritual renewal will unfold in each life that humbly seeks it.

Late yesterday afternoon UPS delivered my copy of BABY JACK. Last night, mesmerized by Frank Schaeffer's brilliantly voiced characters, I read the story through in one sitting. I relived my experiences as a young Marine through Jack; I fell in love with Jessica; and, I hated everything I saw of myself in Todd.

Many years ago I, like Jack Ogden, chose the Marines over college. I was squad leader and "honor Marine" in boot camp. Like Jack, my father did not come to my graduation. I had seen him only two times as a young child.

In DaNang, our perimeter was overrun by North Vietnamese Army regulars. I was blown off the road by an explosion from a rocket propelled grenade while taking a wounded Marine to an aid station. I spent the night trapped in deep grass clutching a grenade and waiting to die. My sister worked for Robert McNamara. Every day she checked the Pentagon "Casualty List" searching for my name.

Like Jack, I volunteered to serve but my family was drafted into the war. Through BABY JACK I relived my experiences as a combat Marine and a was given the opportunity to experience how my family suffered in untold ways as have countless others.

Great literary novels are character driven -- and this is one for our time.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a book, October 8, 2006
By Miland Joshi (Birmingham, UK) - See all my reviews
This is a novel about a family who lose a son to the American war effort in Iraq, told from the perspective of several subjects. While fiction, it is based on the stories of real people, including those of the author himself, and makes for moving reading in the view of this UK civilian. Some of it may shock readers with its unconventional religious perspective, but it expresses an honest view worthy of being heard. Readers of the non-fiction works that Schaeffer has already written about his family's story as a 'military family' will have some idea of what to expect. This is a powerful story that encourages patriotism and respect for the virtues of soldiers that serve their country without stint. Highly recommended, but for adult readers only, in view of some of its contents.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunningly told story of sacrifice, loss and redemption
Where do I start? I'm with Nathaniel Fick, who in his advance praise for this book, said he had to read it in private because "it wrapped me up emotionally and left me wrung out. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Timothy J. Bazzett

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lost Son
Baby Jack

Todd Ogden, an acclaimed painter with works in museums around the world and a supposedly successful thirty-year marriage is living in and painting his two... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "must read"
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5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't get away from this book.
As one who can personally relate to the stories told by Schaeffer, I just couldn't put the book down. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!
I loved this book. Mr. Schaeffer is not only a very, very good writer, he also captures the feelings of an unlikely military family. Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars Frank Schaeffer has done it again.
I have read Schaeffer's Calvin Becker trilogy plus the book (title escapes me) written jointly with his son. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Baby Jack
Very good. The beginning of the story started a little slow. However, as I started to put all the characters together, it was a page turner! Read more
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I have followed Frank Shaeffer for many years; from back in the day - Sham Pearl for Real Swine; Bad News for Modern Man, etc. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put Down
The only problem with Frank Schaeffer novels is that once you start reading them, they eventually end. The same is true for Baby Jack. Read more
Published on October 28, 2006 by Courtney

4.0 out of 5 stars Straight From His Gut
I've read the Calvin Becker trilogy. Frank Schaeffer's writing is both funny and serious. I looked forward reading "Baby Jack," especially since he has gotten so much press as... Read more
Published on October 9, 2006 by The Cashmere Bookworm

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