Dispatches (book)

Dispatches
1st edition
Author(s)	Michael Herr
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Journalism
Publisher	Knopf
Publication date	1977
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	272 pp
ISBN	0-67-973525-9
OCLC Number	22956787
Dewey Decimal	959.704/38 20
LC Classification	DS559.5 .H47 1991

Dispatches is a New Journalism^[1] book by Michael Herr that describes the author's experiences in Vietnam as a war correspondent for Esquire magazine. First published in 1977, Dispatches was one of the first pieces of American literature that allowed Americans to understand the experiences of soldiers in the Vietnam War. At a time when many veterans would say little about their experiences during the war, Dispatches allowed for an experience and understanding of the war like no other source to date. The book is noted for a visceral, literary style which distinguishes it from more mundane and accurate historical accounts.

Featured prominently in the book are the journalists Sean Flynn and Dana Stone and the photojournalist Tim Page. Only briefly does Herr mention that the first two were captured and presumed dead.

Dispatches was reprinted in 2009 by Everyman's Library as a contemporary classic.

In screenplays

Several of the fictional (composite character) soldiers mentioned in the book were used as the basis for characters in the movies Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket.

References

1. ^ Carpenter, Lucas (Spring 2003). ""It don't mean nothin'": Vietnam War fiction and postmodernism". College Literature. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3709/is_200304/ai_n9202503/pg_6/?tag=content;col1.