Chickenhawk: Back in the World : Life After VietnamHere is the triumphant sequel to Robert Mason's bestselling account of his service as a chopper pilot in Vietnam. Chickenhawk: Back in the World is a moving, no-holds-barred post-Vietnam memoir that reveals the war's shattering legacy in the heart and mind of a returning vet. When Robert Mason's first book was published in 1983, it was hailed as one of the finest personal evocations of Vietnam ever to appear in print. In fact, Chickenhawk is still in print, a book that continues to serve as a testament for an entire generation. But not even Mason's splendid debut will prepare you for the authority of Chickenhawk: Back in the World, his harrowing quest to find "the most significant thing I lost in that war - peace." Although Mason's return was at first promising - after leaving active combat duty he began instructing future helicopter pilots - it quickly spiraled downward: into bouts of panic and increasingly heavy drinking, adulterous love affairs, jobs he could never keep. At the spiral's bottom lay an epic ocean voyage in a small boat. Destination: Colombia; cargo: marijuana; payoff: capture and a twenty-month prison term. Mason recounts these events and his gradual healing from the wounds of Vietnam with caustic honesty, in powerful prose that conveys both the texture of despair and the hope that kept him going as he tried to maneuver through his own personal minefield. Above all, he writes with a bitter wisdom that makes this book an anthem for all those vets who lost a piece of themselves in Southeast Asia - and have spend a long, hard time trying to get it back. |
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - MasseyLibrary - www.librarything.comContinues to serve as a testament for an entire generation. But not even Mason's splendid debut will prepare you for the authority of Chickenhawk: Back in the World, his harrowing quest to find "the ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Schmerguls - LibraryThing4877. Chickenhawk Back in the World Life After Vietnam, by Robert Mason (read 13 Nov 2011) This is the sequel to Chickenhawk, which I read 8 Nov 2011, and is a sad but gripping book. The account of ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abruzzo Almonaster la Real asked autorotation Baker boat bunk C H A P T E R cabin called camp Chickenhawk clothing room cockpit Colombia commissary couple Cubans Dave Deacon deck door Dorm drove Eglin feel feet felt friends fucking Gainesville going guard hack head heard helicopter Hiller hundred inmates inside jail Jerry John and Ireland knew Knox Larry Heinemann laughed lights looked Loopy loran mainsail marijuana Mason mirrors Miss Reed morning Namaste night nodded º º Okay Philip Caputo pilot prison pulled Raisin Bran robot sail Saint Thomas sextant shit shrugged smiled stared stayed stood stuff talked Tarzan tell thing thought thousand Tim O'Brien told took trying turned Viet Cong Vietnam waited walked wanted watched Waterhead weeks who'd write Yeah yelled
Bibliographic information
| Title | Chickenhawk: Back in the World : Life After Vietnam |
| Author | Robert Mason |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Viking, 1993 |
| Original from | the University of California |
| Digitized | Jul 10, 2009 |
| ISBN | 0670848352, 9780670848355 |
| Length | 388 pages |
| Subjects | › Biography & Autobiography / Military |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |