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The Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge (So Far)
Tim O'Brien

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Tim O'Brien Tells a True War Story by Big Think
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Tim O'Brien


Born
in Austin, MN, The United States
October 01, 1946

Genre
Literature & Fiction, Nonfiction


Tim O’Brien matriculated at Macalester College. Graduation in 1968 found him with a BA in political science and a draft notice.

O’Brien was against the war but reported for service and was sent to Vietnam with what has been called the “unlucky” Americal division due to its involvement in the My Lai massacre in 1968, an event which figures prominently in In the Lake of the Woods. He was assigned to 3rd Platoon, A Company, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry, as an infantry foot soldier. O’Brien’s tour of duty was 1969-70.

After Vietnam he became a graduate student at Harvard. No doubt he was one of very few Vietnam veterans there at that time, much less Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) holders. Having the opportunity to do an internship at the Washington ...more

Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.08 · 384,890 ratings · 24,609 reviews · 118 distinct works • Similar authors
The Things They Carried
4.14 avg rating — 318,857 ratings — published 1990 — 133 editions
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In the Lake of the Woods
3.76 avg rating — 22,869 ratings — published 1994 — 59 editions
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Going After Cacciato
3.90 avg rating — 13,980 ratings — published 1978 — 72 editions
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If I Die in a Combat Zone, ...
3.96 avg rating — 11,178 ratings — published 1973 — 70 editions
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July, July
3.48 avg rating — 3,862 ratings — published 2002 — 35 editions
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Tomcat in Love
3.44 avg rating — 3,419 ratings — published 1998 — 38 editions
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America Fantastica
3.46 avg rating — 3,365 ratings — published 2023 — 3 editions
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Northern Lights
3.32 avg rating — 1,250 ratings — published 1975 — 20 editions
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The Nuclear Age
3.47 avg rating — 1,155 ratings — published 1985 — 26 editions
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Dad's Maybe Book
3.96 avg rating — 802 ratings — published 2019 — 15 editions
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Quotes by Tim O'Brien  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“That's what fiction is for. It's for getting at the truth when the truth isn't sufficient for the truth.”
― Tim O'Brien
tags: fiction, on-fiction, stories, truth, writing
2413 likes
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“They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity.”
― Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
980 likes
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“A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.”
― Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
tags: lies, truth, war
766 likes
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