Dirty Work is the story of two men, strangersone white, the other black. Both were born and raised in Mississippi. Both fought in Vietnam. Both were gravely wounded. Now, twenty-two years later, the two men lie in adjacent beds in a VA hospital.Over the course of a day and a night, Walter James and Braiden Chaney talk of memories, of passions, of fate. With great vision, humor, and courage, Brown writes mostly about love in a story about the waste of war.
Dirty Work
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From Publishers Weekly
Two devastatingly wounded Vietnam vets, Chaney, who is black, and James, white, both sons of the South, lie in a veteran's hospital and talk freely about combat, movies, sex, old loves, their boyhoods, how it feels to kill a man and why God allows wars to happen. PW described this novel as "wrenching" and "memorable."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
There has been no anti-war novel . . . quite like Dirty Work.The New York Times (The New York Times )
A novel of the first order. . . . A gem.The Washington Post (The Washington Post )
Explodes like a land mine. . . . A marvelous book.The Kansas City Star (The Kansas City Star )
A real knockout.New York Newsday (Newsday )
A novel of the first order. . . . A gem.The Washington Post (The Washington Post )
Explodes like a land mine. . . . A marvelous book.The Kansas City Star (The Kansas City Star )
A real knockout.New York Newsday (Newsday )
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First Sentence
This the trip I took that day, day they brought Walter in. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
This the trip I took that day, day they brought Walter in. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By "bigsky682"
Format:Hardcover
I'm a stone sucker for gritty Vietnam tales and don't care whether they are fantasy or realism, as long as someone is holding in their innards with a sweaty bandanna or emptying their 60 into the trees. In this novel, Brown goes where other writers like Robert Stone, Thom Jones and Bill Shields also go; things get ugly, they go to hell through nobody's fault, luck and Jesus run out at the same time. On paper, the plot seems somewhat hackneyed - the short-fuse father who ends up in the Big House, the school bullies, the Vietnam ambush scenes, etc. But Brown makes it work. We want to know what both of the main characters are thinking. Even more interesting than any of this is the budding relationship between the protagonist and another wrecked soul who sells him the beer that blunts his pain. Although the early Cuckoo's Nest reference telegraphs the ending somewhat, this book reads quick and rough, like the first elementary school beating I ever took. Recommended.
Format:Hardcover
Dirty Work is the captivating debut novel from the finest novelist of this generation. Hailed as a modern Johnny Got His Gun, it lives up to and, at times, surpasses such comparisons. Brown's creative way of alternating the perspective, chapter by chapter, between the two main characters works beautifully. It's a fast and compelling read. The dark clouds that permeate Brown's style of storytelling are devoid of silver linings. The emotional landscape is often more stark than the gloomy physical settings where his stories unfold. I have turned many people on to this gem and all have come away as loyal Larry Brown fans. I do not think it's possible to be disappointed with this novel. Dive in with absolute confidence that Mr. Brown will take you where you need to go! You will want more when you are finished.
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Brown opens with a reference to "Johnny Get Your Gun," and the novel definitely contains parallels, but his pacing, characters and dialogue are far and away reason enough to pick this up. Like Thom Jones and Tim O'Brien, Brown elicits my great thanks and praises to both vets and the fact that I was born in 1972.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gritty exploration of the souls still haunted by war.
Sitting outside at a cafe in MA, I hear the guy next to me talk of Vietnam in terms that made it seem to have happened last week. Read more
Published on Aug 1 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning! A masterpiece!
What a great book. If this one doesn't rip you to shreds, leave you changed and sobbing, then you flat out have no soul.
Published on April 22 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dirty Work is hauntingly powerful
I was assigned to read just one chapter of this book as part of an advanced high school English class. The teacher had used a marker to blot out all the curse words. Read more
Published on Oct 1 1998
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