Tim O'Brien, Novelist
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[on comparing the Vietnam War to the Iraq War] "The
Iraq thing has the feel of a potential quagmire where we just get deeper
and deeper and deeper involved, and when that happens it’s harder and
harder and harder to get out. There’s also the similarity with the
difficulty in finding the enemy. In Vietnam, we couldn’t find the V.C.,
they were blended in with the population, and we’re having the same
problem in Iraq . . ."
~Tim
O'Brien as told to Patrick Hunt for the U. of Dayton, Oct. 2003
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 O'Brien Links
Research Links for Students |
www.AuthorTimOBrien.com
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"Forty-three
years old, and the war occurred half a lifetime ago, and yet the
remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story,
which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for
joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the
night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you
are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is
nothing to remember except the story."
~Tim O'Brien
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Who
is reading The Things They Carried?
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First Year Students at:
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Philadelphia
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Hampshire County, MA
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Cleveland County, OH
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Wautauga
County, NC
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High School Students:
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- Mr. Wack's Senior English Skills Class at Niles West
- Mr. Foss's English Class, San
Antonio!!!
- Downingtown High School (PA) -
East and West Campuses
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More communities and colleges .
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Tim O'Brien is the
author of the following works:
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If I
Die
in a Combat Zone,
Box Me Up and Ship Me Home
1973 This memoir of his Vietnam service covers his tour to Vietnam as a combat
infantryman with the Americal Division in the region around My Lai, from 1969-70. It is
one of the earliest books about Vietnam by a combatant and also one of the early
entrants in the genre now called "creative nonfiction." It is a very
clear eyed, gripping account of his war. (excerpt)
(bookclub
guide) (reviews)
(covers)
1975 This is his first published novel. The book is an account of two brothers
in rural Minnesota. One brother returns from the war wounded, but both brothers are at
loose ends and uncomfortable with each other, themselves, their lives, and their
relationships, particularly with their late father.
(excerpt) (bookclub
guide) (covers)
1978 O'Brien's second novel won the National Book Award. It is the tale of a soldier
who decides to run away from the Vietnam War. It is a complex book, which repays careful
reading. Pronounce it "catch-ee-otto" please.
(excerpt)
(bookclub
guide) (reviews) (covers)
Pronounce it "catch-ee-otto" please.
(excerpt)
(bookclub
guide) (reviews) (covers)
1985 This novel takes a look at how you would live your life if you were always
cognizant of, and worried by, the threat of extinction in a nuclear war. He treats this
subject very seriously, but the book is written in a comic style.
(reviews) (covers)
1990 A gripping series of Vietnam stories gathered in a format of O'Brien's devising.
It is not a collection of short stories, but it is not one story with a beginning and an
ending. It is perhaps closest to listening to a soldier storyteller over a long
period time. While you listen to his stories, you hear a bit of his personal life;
he uses repetition of events and certain phrases to reinforce familiarity with the
tales. Closing the book you believe you know the narrator very well.
Attempting to further confuse fiction with non-fiction, Tim O'Brien gave his storyteller
the name "Tim O'Brien."
Winner of France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award
A
very special handmade illustrated chapbook of the stories
"Enemies" and "Friends" was available from synaesthesia
press. It is now out of print.
1994 If you thought you knew "Tim O'Brien" after reading his
last novel, now he tells you that it could all be illusion. The hero of this novel, John
Wade, thinks he has erased his presence at the My Lai massacre. It isn't part of the
stories he tells his wife or a part of his senate campaign. When the truth comes out, his
wife finds out she doesn't know the man she married.
"ITL" received the James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians and was named best novel of the year by Time magazine.
(reviews)
( bookclub
guide) (covers)
Read
about former Sen. Bob Kerrey's actions in Vietnam, a startling parallel to Wade's problems.
(Students, do not confuse former
Senator Bob Kerrey, Vietnam vet, with Senator John Kerry, Vietnam vet and
presidential candidate.)
1994 O'Brien's disturbing and splendid essay from
the New York Time's Magazine
along with interviews
and reviews of some of his previous books. (You will need to complete a form for
free registration if you have never visited the "New York Times" website.
It is short and well worth the effort.)
1998 A well-crafted and funny novel. The main character,
Thomas Chippering, bends all his efforts to the pursuit of women, from his
ex-wife to whoever of the opposite gender is within reach.(audio
excerpt) (excerpt) (reviews)
(covers)
2002 The class of '69 gets back together and learns that the past is still
with them and you don't stop changing as you grow older. Keeping the
individual stories separate and then uniting them at the end; O'Brien produces
an entertaining tour de force. (covers)
'Good movies—and good novels, too—do not depend upon
"accurate portrayals." Accuracy is irrelevant. Is the Mona Lisa
an "accurate" representation of the actual human model for the
painting? Who knows? Who cares? It's a great piece of art. It moves us. It
makes us wonder, makes us gape; finally makes us look inward at ourselves.'
~
Tim O'Brien in an interview for Texas Monthly
Nov. 2002
"Letter
to Timmy"
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THE
"LOST" ART OF THE SHORT STORY |
| "The
Nuclear Age" Atlantic, June 1979 (The Nuclear Age) |
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"The People We Marry"
Atlantic (January 1992):90-98. (excerpt prior
to In the Lake of the Woods) |
| "Class of '68"
Esquire (March 1998):160. (excerpt prior to July, July) ($$) |
| "July
'69" Esquire (July 2000) (excerpt prior to July, July)
($$) |
| "Too
Skinny" New Yorker (September 10, 2001): 92-100 (excerpt prior to July,
July) |
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"Little
People" Esquire (October 2001) (excerpt prior to July, July) ($$) |
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"Half
Gone" New Yorker (July 8, 2002):66-71. (excerpt prior to July, July) |
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"What
Went Wrong" Esquire (August 2002) (excerpt prior to July,
July) ($$) |
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Miscellaneous Works and
Audio/Video Treats  |
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Kasey Kowars Interviews
Tim, 07-04
This is a particularly good interview. I began to do the Kasey
Kowars website after hearing this great interview!
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O'Brien
reads from "Tomcat in Love"
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O'Brien's introduction
to the 95 issue of Ploughshares he co-edited.
Tim
O'Brien at Ploughshares
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Must
Read !!
Thomas Chippering has written a letter commiserating
with President Clinton. |
Video
Clips from an appearance at Old Dominion in 10-00 |
| Excerpts
from Tim O'Brien's talk, "The
Things That Writers Carry" 02-01-00
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Buy audio and
video tapes
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"Writing
Vietnam" Address at Brown University, 04-22-99 (transcript &
audio) |
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On NPR
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WHYY, Philadelphia
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The
Putt at the End of the World
O'Brien joins other authors, such as Dave
Barry, to write a comic golf thriller. Each author wrote one
chapter, O'Brien's chapter is "Tight Lies" and it is 19 pages
long. The book was edited by Les Standiford. [hardback]
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American Fiction, Volume Seven: The Best
Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Writers
Tim O'Brien, Michael White, Alan Davis, editors
[paperback]
[hardback from
Germany]
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Supplementary bibliography primarily of articles in various databases
Appearances . .
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Appearance information is always subject to change. Please
check before making your plans, and
when O'Brien will be in your
neighborhood.
I will send that information out via my newsletter.
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WHEN |
THE DETAILS |
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You
so I can put it here! |
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Tim O'Brien is now a visiting professor at Texas
State University where some very lucky students are learning from him through
that university's Creative Writing
Program. O'Brien is at TSU courtesy of
"The Roy F. and Joann Mitte Endowed Chair in Creative
Writing."
News . .
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"Odd
things were happening to Boyd Little."
(First
line of the novel O'Brien is working on.)
Books
about O'Brien:
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Vernon,
Alex
Soldiers Once and Still: Ernest Hemingway, James Salter and Tim O'Brien
I have not seen this book . . .
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Appy,
Chris
PATRIOTS: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides
This is a 600 page book with 135
interviews from all points of view about Vietnam. Tim O'Brien is
interviewed, but I have not seen it. This book got good critical
reviews and is well worth a look.
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Herzog, Tobey C.
Tim O'Brien
(Twayne's United States Authors Series, No 691)
This is the
O'Brien book.
Herzog knows O'Brien and his work and I learned quite a bit from his scholarship.
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Heberle,
Mark A.
A Trauma Artist: Tim
O'Brien and the Fiction of Vietnam
A critical look at each of
O'Brien's books based on the author's reading of the texts and interviews
with O'Brien. It looks very readable and thorough.
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