Johnny Got His Gun

Dalton Trumbo

Carol Publishing Group, 1994 - Fiction - 309 pages

This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered--not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives...This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless and gruesome...but so is war.

Winner of the National Book Award

"Mr. Trumbo sets this story down almost without pause or punctuation and with a fury amounting to eloquence."-- "The New York Times"

"It is hard to imaging a more persuasive argument for staying out of war than this smooth, savage, brilliant tale."-- "Chicago Daily News"

What people are saying

Review: Johnny Got His Gun

User Review  - Dena Arntzen - Goodreads

I read this book as a freshman in high school. It has stayed with me over the years in a way that almost no other book has done.

Review: Johnny Got His Gun

User Review  - Kyle - Goodreads

Very interesting style. Loved the stream of consciousness. Funny and sad at the same time. Liked the death part more than the life part though. Yes its a bunch of flashbacks but they are way more ...

About the author

Ron Kovic served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War. He was paralyzed from his chest down in combat in 1968 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. Along with Oliver Stone, Kovic was the co-screenwriter of the 1989 Academy Award-winning film based on the book (Tom Cruise plays the role of Kovic).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Johnny Got His Gun; Citadel underground
• Author: Dalton Trumbo
• Editor: Ron Kovic
• Contributor: Ron Kovic
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Carol Publishing Group, 1994
• ISBN: 0806512814, 9780806512815
• Length: 309 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Literary