The Lotus Flower, normally recognized for its’ resplendent red color, is the national flower of both India and Vietnam. At one point towards the end of this ironically timely novel by Chris Bohjalian, it is pointed out that the lotus flower is known for laying atop the water during the day and then sinking at…
Cinemax is really amping up their original series lineup! Outcast has been everything it promised and more—seriously, I was hooked from the terrifying roach-and-finger dinner from the opening scene. If you haven't seen it yet, go watch Outcast and read Angie's great reviews! Now, they've got a new series premiering September 9th, called Quarry—based on…
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen features a captivating, duplicitious narrator who's a communist sleeper agent living in America after the Vietnam War. Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. While it’s likely that the Vietnam War spawned many bookshelves full of novels written by Vietnamese authors, an awfully small number of these…
They say all is fair in love and war, but these six books might change your mind about that. Register to enter for a chance to win. Click here to enter for a chance to win! This is NOT a Comments Sweepstakes. You must click the link above to enter. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES…
Riders on the Storm by Ed Gorman is the final mystery in the suspenseful and politically charged Sam McCain series set in Iowa during the Vietnam War (available October 8, 2014). I first met Sam McCain in The Day The Music Died, which is set in 1958, a year I remember well. It was the…
The Coen Brother’s 1998 comedy The Big Lebowski has many cultural touchstones—the sixties, hippies, Vietnam, CCR, weed, Busby Berkley musicals—but the underlying structure of the movie goes back further to the days of 40s film noir. In a movie full of touches of genius (full disclosure: I’m a Lebowskiphile from way back), the initiating act…
Everybody in the world has a double, the saying goes. And for Donald G. Carr, a Green Beret who disappeared in Laos more than 40 years ago, that doppelganger was a German bird smuggler named Gunter Dittrich. The two men—one a war hero missing in action, the other a small-time criminal, are forever linked by…
