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Pettibone's Law: A Novel
The story of Vietnam pilot Smilin' Jack Rawlins, told with cinematic shifts from war scenes to the present day, traces one man's--and one nation's--journey into the heart of darkness and their steps back into the light
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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June 11, 2013
A sadly much underestimated but very accurate account of flying fast jets, which majors on the fraught and often humorous relations between pilots, RIOs and not least their "superior" officers. Told with dry humour, this is a book that probably never stood a big chance in the US...
Very much a book of two halves - intertwining and contrasting Smilin' Jack Rawlins' flying stories with the frustration of a later job in the defence industry. I've heard a good deal of criticism of the latter part but personally think that it is an important part of the (surely partly autobiographical) story John Keene set out to tell.
Worth reading just for the inventiveness of the characters' names - Lt Col Shaky Morgenkrank, Doctor Lt Col McKinley Mortadella to name but two. And anyone who has worked in similar environments will instantly be able to put their own names in place of Keene's characters'.
Chickenhawk is another excellent Vietnam book, but if you want laugh-a-page humour and a more considered and rounded (but no less disturbing) view of how it is to return to "reality", try this one.
Very much a book of two halves - intertwining and contrasting Smilin' Jack Rawlins' flying stories with the frustration of a later job in the defence industry. I've heard a good deal of criticism of the latter part but personally think that it is an important part of the (surely partly autobiographical) story John Keene set out to tell.
Worth reading just for the inventiveness of the characters' names - Lt Col Shaky Morgenkrank, Doctor Lt Col McKinley Mortadella to name but two. And anyone who has worked in similar environments will instantly be able to put their own names in place of Keene's characters'.
Chickenhawk is another excellent Vietnam book, but if you want laugh-a-page humour and a more considered and rounded (but no less disturbing) view of how it is to return to "reality", try this one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review