Brandywine's War is a novel of the Viet Nam conflict written by a three-tour veteran helicopter pilot. I didn't know what to make of it at first. It brought back memories of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Phil Silvers' half-hour comedy show where he played Sgt. Bilko, and also the F-Troop TV show of inept soldiers, not to mention MASH which is still re-running on some TV stations. In the story Brandywine calls it "an iconoclastic look at the military."
Brandywine is a manipulator par excellence of the Army regulations, getting away with all sorts of things by twisting orders and regulations to suit his needs and spreading rumors and innuendo. It all works perfect except for his supervisor, Colonel Cleaver, who has it in for him and gets an extra six months tacked onto Brandywine's tour, and the book doesn't end in a particularly happy manner for Brandywine.
I'll give the story Five Stars for humor and ingenuity, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The author, Robert Vaughn, published his first book at age 19, his bio says, and ever since has been a productive writer. Now, nearing eighty, he has almost 500 books written, including many westerns. He is a winner of the SPUR Award, the Western Fictioneers Lifetime Achievment Award, and others. I will try one of his westerns to see if I like it, which I know I will.
I reviewed the Kindle edition by Wolfpack Publishing.
Sounds like a good tale. I enjoyed Your Stranger from the Valley.
ReplyDeleteLots of laughs in Brandywine's War. Thanks, Charles, glad you enjoyed it..
DeleteThat is a lot of books! When you find an author you ike, it's nice to discover they've written a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me think should type faster.
DeleteYes, type faster. I need to learn that skill.
ReplyDeleteCannot get the fact he wrote 500+ books out of my mind - then I read the other comments. Looks like I am not the only one that finds that mighty impressive. I have not read any of his stuff but he sounds interesting.
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