“The Yellow Birds is a debut novel about a soldier coming of age and about the psychological aftermath of war. In Al Tafar, Iraq, twenty-one-year old Private Bartle and eighteen-year-old Private Murphy cling to life as their platoon launches a bloody battle for the city. Bound together since basic training when Bartle makes a promise to …
I started reading about modern warfare in elementary school and have kept at it steadily for more than five decades. One result, which I began to notice back in the 1970s, is that military thinking has become the default setting in my brain. Battlefield diaries and the memoirs of former combatants are filled with lessons …
When his band’s newsletter mentioned that Willy Vlautin (Lean on Pete) would be buying rounds of drinks if Vlautin takes home the IMPAC literary award for which he’s been shortlisted, we just took it to mean that there’d be a general cause for celebration. We then clicked the link for a little more info and, …
Back in January, when the awards were announced, Karl Marlantes picked Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park, WA) as his locale of choice to receive his 2011 Pacific Northwest Book Award for Matternorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War. That day finally arrived, as more than 150 fans turned out on Saturday night to hear him …
When the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association named their annual Book Award winners for 2011, they asked each recipient to pick his or her favorite local indie bookstore at which to celebrate the honor. Here are some neighborhood parties with an open invitation for you. “Librarian of the Year,” and in these parts the decade, Nancy …
I have been moved, often to tears, with the power of literature to heal, to reach the dark places where we hide pain or shame. I’ve seen literature bring to light the previously unmentionable. I had no idea of this power until I went on tour to talk about my novel of the Vietnam War, …
A committee of independent booksellers has announced the winners of the 2011 Pacific Northwest Book Awards. The committee chose four books from its Shortlist and are honoring a fifth author with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations to Brady Udall (The Lonely Polygamist), Karl Marlantes (Matterhorn: A Novel of Vietnam), Anthony Doerr (Memory Wall), Sarahlee Lawrence (River House: …
“Gritty, intense, and captivating from the first page, Matterhorn is a masterpiece, shedding light on the complexities of the U.S. Marine combat experience in Vietnam. The riveting narrative takes the reader up and down the chain of command, creating empathy with nearly every character. Marlantes demonstrates the ripple effect that small decisions can have, often to the …
Our favorite curmudgeonly blogger, Brad Craft, who also works as a used book buyer at the University Bookstore in Seattle, is also quite an accomplished caricaturist. When Karl Marlantes visited the University Bookstore, Brad took advantage of the opportunity to catch him in pencil (I think). I love the dog tags. Marlantes worked on his …
We can’t click on a book website these days without seeing Karl Marlantes and his debut novel, Matterhorn. Which must be incredibly satisfying to Marlantes, who took thirty-five years to write it. Matterhorn is the story of young Marines in Vietnam—trying to survive while also trying to understand why they’re there and who they are. …
