The Father of All Things

The Father of All Thingsis a riveting, haunting, and often hilarious account of a veteran and his son's journey through Vietnam. As his father recounts his experiences as a soldier, including a near fatal injury, Tom Bissell weaves a larger history of the war and explores the controversies that still spark furious debate today. Blending history, memoir, and travelogue,The Father of All Thingsis a portrait of the war's personal, political, and cultural impact from the perspective of the generation that grew up in the wake of the conflict. It is also a wise and revelatory book about the bond between fathers and sons.

Tom Bissell is the author of Chasing the Sea and God Lives in St. Petersburg, and a contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine and The Virginia Quarterly Review. In 2006 he was awarded the Rome Fellowship by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and his work has been selected several times by the Best American Short Stories, Best American Travel Writing, and Best American Science Writing series. He lives in Rome.


From the Hardcover edition.