The Things They Carried

New York: Houghton, Mifflin (1990). Advance Reading Copy - Promotional chapbook. 8vo. 39 pp. Original green illustrated wraps. Wraps show mild edge wear, particular to corners. Bottom fore edge corner curled. Edges nicked. Handling and shelf wear mild. Book is tight, square and firm. Some trace foxing and vintage toning to pages. A scarce and uncommon chapbook, advance promotional item from the acclaimed short story collection.

Wraps: Very Good

Text: Very Good

“A collection of linked short stories about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. His third book about the war, it is based upon his experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division. Many of the characters are semi-autobiographical, sharing similarities with figures from his memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home. In The Things They Carried, O'Brien plays with the genre of metafiction; he writes using verisimilitude. His use of real place names and inclusion of himself as the protagonist blurs fiction and non-fiction. As part of this effect, O'Brien dedicates The Things They Carried to the fictional men of the "Alpha Company," giving it “the form of a war memoir,” states O’Brien.”