Collateral Damage - Softcover

Boatwright, Alice K

4.53

34 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0983617244 ISBN 13: 9780983617242

Publisher: Standing Stone Books, 2012

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Fiction. In these three linked novellas, Boatwright explores the lasting effects of the Vietnam War on people living in its shadow—both those who fought and those who didn't. These moving stories from one of American history's most divisive eras show us Vietnam may not be as far behind us as we think. Who goes to war and why—and the consequences for them and the people who love them—are issues that we still face today.

"These are engrossing stories told with considerable artistry, full of recognition and sympathy."—Diane Johnson

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From the Author:

About this book
The impetus to write this book goes back to a snowy day in 1968, whenI received a letter from one of my high school friends telling me that he hadattempted suicide rather than go to Vietnam. I was shocked and, at the sametime, not shocked. My older brother had just been sent to fight in the war. Myyounger brother was worried about the draft. All the young men I knew werestruggling with how to handle the first big decision of their adult lives--and itwas a very big one--whether to follow the dictates of law or conscience and toface the consequences either way. We young women--their sisters, friends, andlovers--were on the sidelines of this moral conflict, but we were also deeplytouched by it, and all of our lives were shaped by it.

I wrote the first version of "Getting Out" when I was a graduate student atColumbia University in 1970. At that time, the wars in South-East Asia and athome were raging, and young people were dying on both fronts. The second andthird sections, set at key points in the post-war years, began as short stories. Theidea of a "triptych" came about when I realized what I most wanted to write was this book expressing the broad and lasting impact of the war on my generation.

Fifty years have now passed, but the fissures in American society that opened during the Vietnam era remain painfully evident. And each new war we engage in brings up thesame questions: what is justified and when, who will fight and why, and willany good come out of it in the end?

Alice K. Boatwright
Seattle, Washington
June 2019

From the Back Cover:

In these three linked novellas, Boatwright explores the lasting effects of the Vietnam War on people living in its shadow -- both those who found and those who didn't. These moving stories from one of American history's most divisive eras show us that Vietnam may not be as far behind us as we think. Who goes to war and why -- and the consequences for them and the people who love them -- are issues that we still face today.

1968: Getting Out: When Toby Woodruff is drafted, he tries to find a middle ground between "going in" and "getting out" of the war and nearly loses his life.

1982: If I Should Stay: A Thanksgiving celebration brings out the tensions in the Percy family as they are try to put the 1960s and the war behind them.

1993: Leaving Vietnam: When Vietnam begins to reopen to the West, Sarah Shepherd has a chance to see the world as her brother Walter last glimpsed it.

FINALIST FOR THE FLANNERY O'CONNOR AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION

WINNER, 2013 BRONZE MEDAL FOR LITERARY FICTION, INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS

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