War Movies: Journeys to Vietnam: Scenes and Out-takes

by Wayne Karlin

"Karlin is one of the most gifted, passionate and powerful writers of his generation." —George Garrett
Wayne Karlin's memoir War Movies recounts his return to Vietnam to work on the Vietnamese film Song of the Stork,  in which young Vietnamese filmmakers tried to recreate their parents' war. On his journey, Karlin lives in two worlds—the world of postwar Vietnam and the world of film. Particularly powerful are the contrasts between the younger and older generations and the meditative quality of the narrative as Karlin explores the ironies involved in bridging the gap between past and present, and between film and reality. We hear the story of the coward who became the national poster boy for patriotism because he is photogenic, and we chuckle when the only extras the director can find to play the American GIs are Russian students. What is reality? What is fiction? What are the consequences of former sacrifice? These are some of the underlying themes explored in the course of this intriguing narrative.

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Wayne Karlin has published nine novels: The Genizah, A Wolf by the Ears, Marble Mountain, The Wished-For Country, Prisoners, Lost Armies, Us, The Extras, Crossover; a collection of short stories, Memorial Days, and three works of non-fiction: Rumors and Stones, War Movies, and Wandering Souls: Journeys with the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam, as well as poetry, stories and articles in literary journals and newspapers. He has received six State of Maryland Individual Artist Awards in Fiction, two Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts), the Paterson Prize in Fiction for 1999, the Vietnam Veterans of American Excellence in the Arts Award in 2005, and the 2019 Juniper Prize for Fiction for A Wolf by the Ears. Several of his books have been published in the U.K. and in translation in Vietnam, Italy, Denmark, Holland and Sweden.