2007.03.30: March 30, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Uzbekistan: Writing - Uzbekistan: Vietnam: Fathers: Bloomberg: Craig Seligman writes: Marine Vet Returns to Vietnam With Nosy Journalist Son in Tow

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Uzbekistan: Special Report: Uzbekistan RPCV and Author Tom Bissell: Tom Bissell: Newest Stories: 2007.03.30: March 30, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Uzbekistan: Writing - Uzbekistan: Vietnam: Fathers: Bloomberg: Craig Seligman writes: Marine Vet Returns to Vietnam With Nosy Journalist Son in Tow

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-116-115.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.116.115) on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 5:40 pm: Edit Post

Craig Seligman writes: Marine Vet Returns to Vietnam With Nosy Journalist Son in Tow

Craig Seligman writes: Marine Vet Returns to Vietnam With Nosy Journalist Son in Tow

Throughout the book you're uncomfortably aware -- Bissell makes you aware -- that a wrenching experience for the father is a feather in the son's professional cap. Relentlessly, almost maniacally, he keeps prodding his dad, who saw friends die in the war and was badly wounded himself, for a reaction; he's like one of those TV newscasters who rush to disaster scenes in order to collar relatives of the victims and shout, ``How do you feel?'' Author Tom Bissell served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan.

Craig Seligman writes: Marine Vet Returns to Vietnam With Nosy Journalist Son in Tow

Marine Vet Returns to Vietnam With Nosy Journalist Son in Tow

By Craig Seligman

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Tom Bissell and his GQ editor were at dinner batting around ideas for a story, he recounts at one point in ``The Father of All Things.'' After several duds they hit on a Vietnam angle: What if Bissell toured the country with his father, a Marine officer who'd seen action there?

The article never made it into GQ (it would be interesting to know why), but the idea was fertile enough to produce a book that is beautifully commensurate with Bissell's skills.

He's not the kind of writer who edits himself. He notes that there are more than 30,000 books on Vietnam in print, and he seems eager to inform us about every one of them. Since he's read carefully and writes with authority, ``The Father of All Things'' is packed with information, not to mention strong opinions, about the country and the war.

He doesn't edit himself emotionally, either. He confesses, ``I am terrible with money, weep over nothing and typically feel before I think.'' And what he feels he can't wait to get down on the page, even if (especially if) it's something embarrassing.

Throughout the book you're uncomfortably aware -- Bissell makes you aware -- that a wrenching experience for the father is a feather in the son's professional cap. Relentlessly, almost maniacally, he keeps prodding his dad, who saw friends die in the war and was badly wounded himself, for a reaction; he's like one of those TV newscasters who rush to disaster scenes in order to collar relatives of the victims and shout, ``How do you feel?''

Silence Is Golden

His father tells him pointedly that what he really enjoys when they're together is a ``nice comfortable silence,'' and Bissell admits that ``the more I questioned him the less he was able to contemplate his experience here.'' But the questions keep coming. ``Do you think,'' the son demands at the end, ``that this trip was cathartic for you?'' The phrasing is so crass that you flinch.

This built-in creepiness would sink a lesser writer. Bissell, though, seems to be shaping his own genre. His last nonfiction book, ``Chasing the Sea'' (2003), about Uzbekistan, had the same eccentric blend of travelogue, history and histrionic self-revelation. I found it both exhausting and hard to put down, which is exactly how I found ``The Father of All Things,'' only harder.

The book starts with a tour de force: a series of chapters that re-create the fall of Saigon alternating with ones chronicling simultaneous events in the Bissell household, where the parents' marriage was cracking apart. It's impressive -- occasionally spectacular -- but also self-conscious. So is Bissell's love of odd words (a group of Western tourists he spots in Hue are ``red-faced and abdomenous''), but the words are almost always the right ones.

Talent for Rhetoric

Moreover, he has what seems like a natural feel for the rise and fall of rhetorical periods. I'm tempted to say he should slow down, learn to distill and pay more attention to his sentences, which can be a little sloppy. But then some writers are Flaubert, others are Balzac.

I don't know for certain that he writes fast (though it doesn't seem like such a wild guess about someone who at 33 has already produced four books and a thick stack of magazine articles), but the prose feels that way: intoxicated and almost desperate, as though the creditors were banging at the door. Yet it's this energy that sweeps you up, and, despite my niggling, I wouldn't want to counsel him to put the brakes on that.

``The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son and the Legacy of Vietnam'' is published by Pantheon (407 pages, $25).

(Craig Seligman is the New York book critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Craig Seligman at cseligman@bloomberg.net .




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: March, 2007; RPCV Tom Bissell (Uzbekistan); Figures; Peace Corps Uzbekistan; Directory of Uzbekistan RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Uzbekistan RPCVs; Writing - Uzbekistan; Viet Nam; Fathers





When this story was posted in April 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Subscribe to Peace Corps News Date: March 3 2007 No: 1071 Subscribe to Peace Corps News
Don't miss our new web site, Peace Corps News, for the latest news about the Returned Volunteer community and what is going on with the Peace Corps around the world. Subscribe to our news feed to get Peace Corps news delivered to your desk as it happens. Then visit the Peace Corps Library, History of the Peace Corps, the worldwide RPCV Directory or leave a message for the RPCV community on the RPCV Bulletin Board.

Peace Corps News Peace Corps Library Peace corps History RPCV Directory Sign Up

March 14, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Date: March 14 2007 No: 1074 March 14, 2007: This Month's Top Stories
Evacuated PCVs attend Festival on the Niger in Mali 23 Feb
Tom Bissell tells the story of how Vietnam came home 13 Mar
Mike Honda cites Japan's Sex Slavery 8 Mar
Donna Shalala co-chairs presidential commission 7 Mar
Sixth Anniversary of Disappearance of PCV Walter Poirier 6 Mar
Sam Farr was de-selected during Peace Corps Training 6 Mar
Elaine Jones would be good fit for NAACP President 6 Mar
Pat Waak re-elected chairwoman of Colorado Dems 5 Mar
Astronaut Mae Jemison was PC Medical Officer 4 Mar
Guy Consolmagno blends faith and science 3 Mar
Doyle Turns Down Federal Abstinence Money 3 Mar
Owen Cylke writes: Taxi in the Rain 2 Mar
Jody Olsen receives "Founder’s Day" Award 2 Mar
Chris Dodd introduces PCV Empowerment Act 1 Mar
Michael O'Hanlon writes: Iraq Deserves One More Chance 1 Mar
An Excerpt from Jan Worth's Night Blind 28 Feb
David Harde sentenced for Medical Marijuana 28 Feb
Oscar winner Helen Mirren congratulated by RPCV husband 26 Feb
RPCVs distribute mosquito nets 25 Feb
Peter McPherson new Chairman of Dow Jones 21 Feb
Arabic speakers under-utilized in Homeland Security 9 Feb
Dr. J. Michael Taylor co- founded Konbit Sante 4 Feb

February 23, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Date: February 24 2007 No: 1070 February 23, 2007: This Month's Top Stories
Hill announces Draft Accord in North Korea Nuclear Talks 12 Feb
Dodd builds connections in New Hampshire 19 Feb
PCVs accused of counterinsurgency activities 19 Feb
Harris Wofford declares support for Obama 18 Feb
Tschetter becomes the first Director to visit Malawi 16 Feb
New Fellows Program at Yale University 15 Feb
Sidney Slover helps start donut production in Honduras 16 Feb
Kevin O'Donnell's Daughter and Granddaughter are PCVs 14 Feb
Joe Krueger helps restore Liberia's timber industry 14 Feb
Peace Corps Hippies 13 Feb
Maryland RPCVs to screen "American Idealist" on March 3 9 Feb
Aaron Kase writes: Moon over Africa 8 Feb
Margaret Krome writes: 'Rogue nations' aren't only threat 8 Feb
Shays says he would Support McCain 8 Feb
A Mistrial for Lieut. Watada 8 Feb
Chris Matthews drops the F-bomb 8 Feb
RPCVs - Believe it or not 07 Feb
White House requests $334 Million for Peace Corps 5 Feb
Carol Bellamy writes: We need an Earth Corps 3 Feb
First Group of PCVs arrive in Cambodia 2 Feb
Mae Jemison wears red for charity 2 Feb
Dear Miss Lonelyhearts 30 Jan

The Peace Corps Library Date: July 11 2006 No: 923 The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Date: September 23 2006 No: 996 Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps
Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

He served with honor Date: September 12 2006 No: 983 He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director Date: September 6 2006 No: 978 Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director
Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance Date: August 19 2006 No: 964 Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance
The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again Date: July 31 2006 No: 947 The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again
The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

PCOL readership increases 100% Date: April 3 2006 No: 853 PCOL readership increases 100%
Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace Corps Date: March 18 2006 No: 834 History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Bloomberg

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Uzbekistan; Writing - Uzbekistan; Vietnam; Fathers

PCOL37258
57


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: