Odysseus in America - by Jonathan Shay (Paperback)

About the Book

This "brilliant successor to the groundbreaking Achilles in Vietnam" (Richard Rhodes, author of "The Making of the Atomic Bomb") examines the problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society through a unique allegorical reading of Homer's "The Odyssey."

Book Synopsis

In this ambitious follow-up to Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life.

Seamlessly combining important psychological work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics.

In Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the story of the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society.

The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture: danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. He also explains how veterans recover and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics.

Review Quotes

"[A] fresh take on a literary classic." --Library Journal

"A brilliant successor to Shay's groundbreaking Achilles in Vietnam." --Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Why They Kill and The Making of the Atomic Bomb

"Should be read by anyone interested in the effects of combat on troops, or in the meaning of Homer's works -- and by everyone who wants to better understand today's United States. Buy it, read it, and make your friends read it." --Thomas E. Ricks, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Making the Corps

"Just as the Iliad and Odyssey complement each other perfectly, so also Odysseus in America is a most worthy companion to Achilles in Vietnam. Dr. Shay has given his readers a true American Odyssey." --Gregory Nagy, Professor of Classical Greek Literature at Harvard University, and Director of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.

"Provocative thinking and clarity of style on the page are Jonathan Shay's consistent hallmarks. Even those who disagree with his conclusions will find his work of profound value. This is a moral, insightful, stimulating book." --Ralph Peters, author of Beyond Terror and Fighting for the Future Vibrant

About the Author

Jonathan Shay is a Boston-area psychiatrist whose patients are Vietnam combat veterans with severe, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder in the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic. He is also on the faculty of Tufts Medical School. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.