William E. Merritt

I loved this book, a wryly humorous, yet somehow darkly philosophical memoir of one man's Vietnam war. Merritt is a fine writer, a Georgia boy fresh out of college who served with the Army engineers attached to the 25th Infantry Division. His odd sense of humor makes it all sound almost like a lark, but it was not. Merritt earned a Purple Heart, which he chalks up to chance, but it got him medevacked to Japan and back home.

There are elements of Heller, Herr and O'Brien to be found in WHERE THE RIVERS RAN BACKWARD, but Merritt's voice is all his own ultimately. You will laugh many times as you read this book, but in the end you will find a dark message about the absurdities of war, and perhaps especially this one.

I don't know how I managed to miss this 1989 book for so many years. But it was originally published by a university press (U of Georgia), so it may have been overlooked by the larger publishing world and the reading public. A shame, because it is a wonderfully dark and funny book, full of finely wrought characters, with a message that will resonate for a long time with anyone who reads it. I see that Merritt has recently recently republished a new edition of the book himself. I hope it takes off. It deserves a weide readership and an esteemed place in the pantheon of war lit. I loved it and cannot recommend it highly enough.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA… (mehr)