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The Return Of Philo T. McGiffin
In this comic and irreverent novel, author and retired naval captain David Poyer--famous for such bestsellers as The Med, The Gulf, The Circle , The Passage, and other bestselling novels of the modern military--brilliantly re-creates the hothouse world of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Poyer's Philo T. McGiffin, arriving at Annapolis to find that he is burdened with the name of a legendary prankster from the class of 1882, attracts attention from the day he reports for Plebe Summer, and the upperclassmen soon make his life a living hell. Stoop-shouldered and meek, he seems an unlikely candidate to carry on the tradition of the original Philo, whose outrageous escapades had served as a symbol of subversive individualism to generations of midshipmen. At first Philo nearly buckles under from the strain, but gradually "The Mouse" learns to roar and ultimately to triumph in the grand style of his predecessor. Funny, touching, and enormously realistic, this madcap novel will bring back to everyone what it was like to be 17 . . . and in deep, deep trouble. . . .
Poyer's Philo T. McGiffin, arriving at Annapolis to find that he is burdened with the name of a legendary prankster from the class of 1882, attracts attention from the day he reports for Plebe Summer, and the upperclassmen soon make his life a living hell. Stoop-shouldered and meek, he seems an unlikely candidate to carry on the tradition of the original Philo, whose outrageous escapades had served as a symbol of subversive individualism to generations of midshipmen. At first Philo nearly buckles under from the strain, but gradually "The Mouse" learns to roar and ultimately to triumph in the grand style of his predecessor. Funny, touching, and enormously realistic, this madcap novel will bring back to everyone what it was like to be 17 . . . and in deep, deep trouble. . . .
- GenresFiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1983
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
David Poyer
82 books241 followersAka D.C. Poyer.
DAVID C. POYER was born in DuBois, PA in 1949. He grew up in Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford, in western Pennsylvania, and graduated from Bradford Area High School in 1967. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1971, and later received a master's degree from George Washington University.
Poyer's active and reserve naval service included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific, and shore duty at the Pentagon, Surface Warfare Development Group, Joint Forces Command, and in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He retired in July 2001.
Poyer began writing in 1976, and is the author of nearly fifty books, including THE MED, THE GULF, THE CIRCLE, THE PASSAGE, TOMAHAWK, CHINA SEA, BLACK STORM, THE COMMAND, THE THREAT, KOREA STRAIT, THE WEAPON, THE CRISIS, THE CRUISER, TIPPING POINT, HUNTER KILLER, DEEP WAR, OVERTHROW, VIOLENT PEACE, ARCTIC SEA, and THE ACADEMY, best-selling Navy novels; THE DEAD OF WINTER, WINTER IN THE HEART, AS THE WOLF LOVES WINTER, THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN, and THE HILL, set in Western Pennsylvania; and HATTERAS BLUE, BAHAMAS BLUE, LOUISIANA BLUE, and DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA, underwater diving adventure.
Other noteworthy books are THE ONLY THING TO FEAR, a historical thriller, THE RETURN OF PHILO T. McGIFFIN, a comic novel of Annapolis, and the three volumes of The Civil War at Sea, FIRE ON THE WATERS, A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN, and THAT ANVIL OF OUR SOULS. He's also written two sailing thrillers, GHOSTING and THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE. His work has been published in Britain, translated into Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Hugarian, and Serbo-Croatian; recorded for audiobooks, iPod downloads, and Kindle, and selected by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club and other book clubs. Rights to several properties have been sold or optioned for films, and two novellas appeared in the Night Bazaar series of fantasy anthologies.
Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the University of North Florida, Christopher Newport University, and other institutions. He has been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America, and has appeared at the Southern Festival of Books and many other literary events. He taught in the MA/MFA in Creative Writing program at Wilkes University for sixteen years. He is currently core faculty at the Ossabaw Writers Retreat, a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a board member of the Northern Appalachia Review.
He lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore with novelist Lenore Hart.
DAVID C. POYER was born in DuBois, PA in 1949. He grew up in Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford, in western Pennsylvania, and graduated from Bradford Area High School in 1967. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1971, and later received a master's degree from George Washington University.
Poyer's active and reserve naval service included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific, and shore duty at the Pentagon, Surface Warfare Development Group, Joint Forces Command, and in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He retired in July 2001.
Poyer began writing in 1976, and is the author of nearly fifty books, including THE MED, THE GULF, THE CIRCLE, THE PASSAGE, TOMAHAWK, CHINA SEA, BLACK STORM, THE COMMAND, THE THREAT, KOREA STRAIT, THE WEAPON, THE CRISIS, THE CRUISER, TIPPING POINT, HUNTER KILLER, DEEP WAR, OVERTHROW, VIOLENT PEACE, ARCTIC SEA, and THE ACADEMY, best-selling Navy novels; THE DEAD OF WINTER, WINTER IN THE HEART, AS THE WOLF LOVES WINTER, THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN, and THE HILL, set in Western Pennsylvania; and HATTERAS BLUE, BAHAMAS BLUE, LOUISIANA BLUE, and DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA, underwater diving adventure.
Other noteworthy books are THE ONLY THING TO FEAR, a historical thriller, THE RETURN OF PHILO T. McGIFFIN, a comic novel of Annapolis, and the three volumes of The Civil War at Sea, FIRE ON THE WATERS, A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN, and THAT ANVIL OF OUR SOULS. He's also written two sailing thrillers, GHOSTING and THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE. His work has been published in Britain, translated into Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Hugarian, and Serbo-Croatian; recorded for audiobooks, iPod downloads, and Kindle, and selected by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club and other book clubs. Rights to several properties have been sold or optioned for films, and two novellas appeared in the Night Bazaar series of fantasy anthologies.
Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the University of North Florida, Christopher Newport University, and other institutions. He has been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America, and has appeared at the Southern Festival of Books and many other literary events. He taught in the MA/MFA in Creative Writing program at Wilkes University for sixteen years. He is currently core faculty at the Ossabaw Writers Retreat, a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a board member of the Northern Appalachia Review.
He lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore with novelist Lenore Hart.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 29, 2022
For anyone who’s spent much time at the U.S. Naval Academy, this book will bring back memories. So many. Some things had changed between the time the main character, Philo T. McGiffin, attended the academy—perhaps late 1960s to early 1970s?—and the time when I attended, not many years after that. But so much hadn’t changed.
It’s as if the author remembered every detail and was able to bring it alive again--the banter, the hijinks, the grueling schedule, the immense contrast between ‘firsties’ and ‘plebes’ though only three years apart in age, the sights and sounds, the challenging academic work, etc.
It’s a compelling story concept, too. The unwitting Philo McGiffin, a meek boy hoping to hold his own at the school, reports there without a clue that his name matches one of the most famous midshipmen ever to attend, so famous that his name endures down the ages, long after his entire class of 1882 has all died. Yet the modern Philo is so different from his namesake, and seems bound to fail out of the school.
I loved the story. As I read it, decades melted away and there I stood again, next to Philo, an eighteen-year-old not knowing what I’d gotten myself into.
All that said, I can’t give this book five stars. Guess I’m a tough grader. But the novel is so packed full of unexplained jargon, so loaded with undefined Naval Academy slang, that it would be unintelligible to anyone not steeped in Boat School lingo. This is not a book for the general public. Most people wouldn’t be able to decipher it. The novel would benefit from a glossary.
That said, if you’ve been through plebe summer there, or if you’ve worked there, you’ll really love this book. For that audience, I highly recommend it.
It’s as if the author remembered every detail and was able to bring it alive again--the banter, the hijinks, the grueling schedule, the immense contrast between ‘firsties’ and ‘plebes’ though only three years apart in age, the sights and sounds, the challenging academic work, etc.
It’s a compelling story concept, too. The unwitting Philo McGiffin, a meek boy hoping to hold his own at the school, reports there without a clue that his name matches one of the most famous midshipmen ever to attend, so famous that his name endures down the ages, long after his entire class of 1882 has all died. Yet the modern Philo is so different from his namesake, and seems bound to fail out of the school.
I loved the story. As I read it, decades melted away and there I stood again, next to Philo, an eighteen-year-old not knowing what I’d gotten myself into.
All that said, I can’t give this book five stars. Guess I’m a tough grader. But the novel is so packed full of unexplained jargon, so loaded with undefined Naval Academy slang, that it would be unintelligible to anyone not steeped in Boat School lingo. This is not a book for the general public. Most people wouldn’t be able to decipher it. The novel would benefit from a glossary.
That said, if you’ve been through plebe summer there, or if you’ve worked there, you’ll really love this book. For that audience, I highly recommend it.
August 26, 2023
David Poyer graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1971 and this is comic homage novel to his experiences. Definitely not PC or armed services friendly in this day and age, it still will appeal to those who were in the armed forces, I'm sure. A good read.
January 29, 2020
As a Naval Academy grad, I recognize every aspect of this story, from the smallest expressions to the biggest characters. Poyer takes you inside the gates in both a humorous and sentimental way.
March 1, 2023
One of my childhood favorites that stands the test of time.
March 16, 2016
This is a MUST-READ for every naval officer who ever attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, who knows the story, real or legendary, of Philo N. McGiffin, Class of 1882, who went on the become an officer and advisor to the Imperial Chinese navy during the First Sino-Japanese War in 1884. The legends of the first Philo McGiffin are worthy of making a movie in themselves, but the fictional story of Philo T. McGiffin as so cleverly written by David Poyer, USNA '71, is a masterpiece that will tickle the bones of every graduate before or since, especially those who graduated from the Academy in the "good ol' days!"
The premise of this novel is that several graduates of the Academy have returned to Annapolis for a class reunion many years later, and they start sharing sea stories about a one-time classmate who was unfortunate enough to have had the same name (except for the middle initial) as the legendary Philo McGiffin. For every mid who has "suffered" through Plebe Year at the Academy, you will recognize many of the episodes that haunted Philo that either you experienced, or know of a classmate who experienced a similar fate. For those readers who either did not attend the Academy or were not a spouse of an Academy graduate, much of this story will be well over your head, but for those who have walked the hallowed halls of Mother Bancroft (and I will give some credit to those who were exchange cadets from either West Point or Colorado Springs), you will come to relive this tale in your own mind as you recall your own years at the Academy. Especially as the story begins to reach its conclusion you will find yourself laughing out so loud that your will drive those around you out of the room. If you don't laugh, you either did not have a "real" Plebe Year, or you have become so detached from the past that you have lost all of your sense of humor.
Go Navy, Beat Army!
PS: This book is hard to find in most libraries, but a soft-cover edition is available both through the Naval Institute Press and Amazon.com. ISBN 1-55750-689-2
The premise of this novel is that several graduates of the Academy have returned to Annapolis for a class reunion many years later, and they start sharing sea stories about a one-time classmate who was unfortunate enough to have had the same name (except for the middle initial) as the legendary Philo McGiffin. For every mid who has "suffered" through Plebe Year at the Academy, you will recognize many of the episodes that haunted Philo that either you experienced, or know of a classmate who experienced a similar fate. For those readers who either did not attend the Academy or were not a spouse of an Academy graduate, much of this story will be well over your head, but for those who have walked the hallowed halls of Mother Bancroft (and I will give some credit to those who were exchange cadets from either West Point or Colorado Springs), you will come to relive this tale in your own mind as you recall your own years at the Academy. Especially as the story begins to reach its conclusion you will find yourself laughing out so loud that your will drive those around you out of the room. If you don't laugh, you either did not have a "real" Plebe Year, or you have become so detached from the past that you have lost all of your sense of humor.
Go Navy, Beat Army!
PS: This book is hard to find in most libraries, but a soft-cover edition is available both through the Naval Institute Press and Amazon.com. ISBN 1-55750-689-2
February 25, 2017
Well written, fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews