THE HERO Versus Me & Monkey Jo - Shepard, Perry

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Résumé :
1968. Henry's just turned 18 and his birthday present is a 2nd class ticket to the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war you've never heard about. Henry and his attention-loving orphan monkey play the lead roles in this wartime comedy/action/drama. Everywhere they go they make new friends and new enemies. By the time Henry boards the plane back to the States, he has experienced the absurdities of military life, the atrocities of war, unexpected friendships, unrequited love, betrayal, and loyalty. -L,A, Harder Shepard chronicles the adventures of Henry Neis who arrives in Vietnam an innocent youth from Kansas, and quickly falls in with addicts and lost souls. Shepard's prose pulls us into the scene immediately, and propels us on a journey that is at times exhilarating, shocking, and moving. A rollicking read and an eye-opening look at the Vietnam War. While on a dangerous mission, Harry rescues a baby monkey, who becomes his faithful companion. Henry volunteers to leave the relative safety of his camp and travel from DaNang to the DMZ on a mission to get active-duty soldiers to put their signatures on insurance paperwork required by the US military. Many of the soldiers had left their Notification of Next of Kin forms blank...

Biographie:
Perry L. Shepard is a Vietnam veteran who has written two novels: The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo, and Hard Love. He is working on his third novel called Wolfgang about a truck driver who sells his soul to the devil. He recently compiled his only poetry collection to date titled, A Rhythmic Circus Of Sound Part 66: ARECOSPart 66. He has co-written two plays in the anthology titled, Annabelle. He has also been published in newspapers, college poetry collections, and fanzines. He was a board member on a Community Radio Station in Salt Lake City (KRCL), a radio music programmer, and one of the founders of the Utah Music Association. He was the Mayor and President of Harveysburg Village Council in Harveysburg, Ohio. He owned and operated the Painted Word Emporium in SLC, Utah-a restaurant, art and performance space. He drove trucks, and shrimp fished out of Arransas Pass, Texas. Shepard won second place in the Eber and Wein's Best American Poetry of 2013, and an honorable mention in Writer's Digest' 84th annual Poetry Competition. Shepard is a board member of (SMAG) South Mass Art Guild in Lawrence Kansas, and is a visual artist. He has work with youth in crisis for the past 29 years. You can reach Perry at: https://anamcara-press.com/...

Sommaire:
some put Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh down as their beneficiaries. Military command insisted on getting the proper names of their next of kin, given their likelihood of dying in battle, and it is Henry's job to find them. Henry and Monkey Jo travel gathering stories and dispensing drugs. They interact with hooch-maids, waitresses, drug dealers, remnants of the French colonizers, the Viet Cong Hells Angels, and the North Vietnamese Regular Army. Along the way Henry records the stories of fellow GI's and works to supply what he feels his fellow soldiers need to survive in the surreal environment during the Vietnam War - including their next fix. A story of redemption....