Hitchhiking Home from Danang - by Gerald A McCarthy (Paperback)

About the Book

""Gerald McCarthy enlisted in the Marines at 17 and volunteered for Vietnam. After the war he went AWOL, then to civilian jails and military brigs and finally to a Navy psychiatric ward, where he witnessed patient attempted suicides. Medically discharged, he returned home to upstate New York and piecework in the shoe factories. Written in two voices-one lucid, one dreamlike-his memoir delivers a jump-cut narrative of his troubled adolescence, his wartime experiences and his struggle to come unstuck from his own life."-Provided by publisher"--

Book Synopsis

Gerald McCarthy enlisted in the Marines at 17 and volunteered for Vietnam. After the war he went AWOL, then to civilian jails and military brigs and finally to a Navy psychiatric ward, where he witnessed patient-attempted suicides. Medically discharged, he returned home to upstate New York and piecework in shoe factories. Written in two voices--one lucid, one dreamlike--his memoir delivers a jump-cut narrative of his troubled adolescence, his wartime experiences and his struggle to come unstuck from his own life.

Review Quotes

"A good read... The diverse 52 chapters mix well together into a tasty jambalaya of a book."-VVA Veteran

"McCarthy has dug deep into his past to produce an astounding volume of literature. Hitchhiking Home from Danang ... reveals the inner world of many war veterans that home folks haven't a clue about."-Portside

About the Author

Poet Gerald A. McCarthy lives in Nyack, New York.