Conversations with Tim O'Brien

On the strength of a National Book Award for his novel <i>Going After Cacciato</i> and a widely acclaimed short-story cycle <i>The Things They Carried</i> Tim O'Brien (b. 1946) cemented his reputation as one of the most compelling chroniclers of Vietnam--and in the process was cast as a Vietnam writer. But to confine O'Brien to a single piece of ground or a particular style is to ignore the broad sweep of a career spanning nearly four decades. <p/> In addition to detailed discussions of all of O'Brien's work--a memoir <i>If I Die in a Combat Zone</i> and seven books of fiction--the sixteen interviews and profiles in <i>Conversations with Tim O'Brien</i> explore common themes with subtle differences. Looming large is the experience of Vietnam and its influence as well as O'Brien's youth in Minnesota and the expectations of a midwestern upbringing. Interviews allowed the writer to fully examine the shifting boundaries of truth and identity memory and imagination in fiction; the role of war in society; gender issues; and the craft of writing. O'Brien approaches each of these topics and a host of others with a directness and an evident passion that will resonate with both readers and prospective writers.