Tim O'Brien (author)

Tim O'Brien (born October 1, 1946) is an American novelist who mainly writes about his experiences in the Vietnam War and the impact that the war had on the American soldiers who fought there.

Related Topics:
October 1 - 1946 - American - Novelist - Vietnam War

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Born in Minnesota, in a small town with only about 9,000 people (a setting which figures prominently in his novels), he earned his BA in Political Science from Macalester College in 1968. That same year he was drafted into the infantry, and was sent to Vietnam, where he served from 1969 to 1970. He served in the Americal Division, infamous for its participation in the My Lai massacre, shortly before O'Brien arrived in Vietnam, which figures into his writing.

Related Topics:
Minnesota - Political Science - Macalester College - 1968 - Infantry - Vietnam - 1969 - 1970 - Americal Division - My Lai massacre

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Upon completing his tour of duty, O'Brien went on to graduate school at Harvard and received an internship at the Washington Post. His writing career was launched in 1973 with the release of If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Send Me Home, about his war experiences.

Related Topics:
Graduate school - Harvard - Internship - Washington Post - If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Send Me Home

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One attribute unique to O'Brien's work is the blur between fiction and reality, which he himself discusses in The Things They Carried, especially in the section titled "How to Tell a True War Story". Often, what is written is not what really happened, but what "should have happened", as he states.

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Books by Tim O'Brien include:

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• If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Send Me Home (1973)
• Northern Lights (1975)
• Going After Cacciato (1978)
• The Nuclear Age (1985)
• The Things They Carried (1990)
• In the Lake of the Woods (1994)
• Tomcat in Love (1998)
• July, July (2002)