Tim O'Brien
Born 1 Oct 1946
From Austin, Minnesota, United States · Nationality: United States · Writes fiction
William Timothy O'Brien (born October 1, 1946) is an American novelist. He is best known for his book The Things They Carried (1990), a collection of linked semi-autobiographical stories inspired by O'Brien's experiences in the Vietnam War. In 2010, the New York Times described O'Brien's book as a Vietnam classic. In addition, he is known for his war novel, Going After Cacciato (1978), also about wartime Vietnam, and later novels about postwar lives of veterans.
O'Brien has held the endowed chair at the MFA program of Texas State University–San Marcos every other academic year since 2003–2004 (2003–2004, 2005–2006, 2007–2008, 2009–2010, and 2011–2012).
Source: Tim O'Brien on Wikipedia
Quotes
“They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing — these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.”
The Things They Carried “I would go to the war — I would kill and maybe die — because I was embarrassed not to. That was the sad thing. And so I sat in the bow of the boat and cried.”
On the Rainy River “Any soldier will tell you, if he tells the truth, that proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life. After a firefight, there is always the immense pleasure of aliveness.”
How to Tell a True War Story “To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true. Almost nothing is true.”
How to Tell a True War Story
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Books by Tim O'Brien in order
Books by Tim O'Brien in the order they were published, from If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me up and Ship Me Home (1969) to Dad's Maybe Book (2019).
- 1If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me up and Ship Me Home
If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me up and Ship Me Home1969 - 2Going After Cacciato
Going After Cacciato1975 - 3Northern Lights
Northern Lights1975 - 4Ploughshares Winter 1978Ploughshares Winter 19781978
- 5The Nuclear Age
The Nuclear Age1985 - 6The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried1990 - 7Light Years Ago
Light Years Ago1992 - 8In the Lake of the Woods
In the Lake of the Woods1994 - 9Tomcat in Love
Tomcat in Love1998 - 10July, July
July, July2002 - 11Critical Insights
Critical Insights2015 - 12Dad's Maybe Book
Dad's Maybe Book2019