false 51606 37 Few American novels are genuine classics, with a permanent place in our literature. This is one of them. First published in 1939, the story of an average American youth who "survives" World War I armless, legless and faceless with his mind intact was an immediate bestseller. Its anti-war message had a profound effect on Americans during the Vietnam era, and is now being reissued. 180461 1939 Johnny Got His Gun total:3112|5:1440|4:1012|3:490|2:120|1:50| 3112 13008 4197 406 5 11 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Tue Oct 23 08:51:24 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 09:12:03 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 6 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 14:38:31 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 09:18:47 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 4 false true Sun Feb 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 21:57:45 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 08:56:52 -0800 2008
Since it's publication during World War II, through various wars and political movements, Johnny Got His Gun has been a book in the spotlight. Of course, Trumbo was a member of the Hollywood Ten, and the book was banned, but it has always found it'...more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu Nov 20 05:00:43 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 05:07:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Oct 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 18:25:21 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 05 07:14:22 -0700 2008 Infinite Jest has beaten me, again.

Instead, I picked this up. The new edition I got has a new Foreword by a woman named CarolCindy Sheehan, who lost her son Casey in Iraq in 2004. This is on top of the old new Foreword by Ron Kovic -- does that name ring a bell? It should, if you are...more...]]> 1 1 false false Wed Dec 12 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Feb 16 22:42:35 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 23:52:53 -0800 2009 It is written in second person limited, which is annoying enough if not for the added limitation of narrating through a character with no eyes, nose, ears, mouth or limbs. Written prima...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Nov 21 11:32:37 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 11:48:06 -0800 2008 2
War it dirty, disp...more...]]> 5 0 false true Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 28 22:46:43 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 23:14:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false true Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 00:35:53 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 00:35:53 -0700 2009 1 Johnny survives a bomb...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1992 Wed Jun 24 08:35:59 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 08:51:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false true Wed May 27 22:13:14 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 22:14:43 -0700 2009 Blindness (reviewed Oct 3), and read them back to back.  Nearly four months later...I finished it today.  It's disturbing.  It's painful. 

It was the title that caught my attention.  T...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 17:55:02 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 14:18:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 04:10:26 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 09:05:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 04 23:37:19 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 23:51:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1998 Tue May 15 10:43:02 -0700 2007 Tue May 15 11:03:27 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Sep 02 23:10:15 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 23:43:34 -0700 2009 Johnny Got His Gun when I read it in high school, many years ago. I recall this now after stumbling onto an excellent PBS American Masters documentary about Dalton Trumbo, focusing on his experience as a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter. What I didn't ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Fri Feb 29 06:18:21 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 06:20:09 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Jan 29 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Feb 25 14:12:41 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 20 08:50:20 -0700 2009 the entire feeling can be summed up in a single chapter, chapter 3. it will always haunt me, and to this day, years aft...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 14:20:22 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 23:10:17 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Dec 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 21:19:07 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 08 21:41:12 -0800 2009 more...]]>