If I Die in a Combat Zone — Tim O'Brien

Before writing his award-winning Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien gave us this searing, intensely personal account of his year as a foot soldier in Vietnam.  The author takes us with him -- to experience combat from behind an infantryman's rifle, to walk the minefields of My Lai, to crawl into the ghostly tunnels, and to explore the ambiguities of manhood and morality in a war gone terribly wrong.  Beautifully written and heartfelt, If I Die in a Combat Zone has been hailed as a masterwork of art in its genre.