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Michael Herr (1940–2016)

Author of Dispatches

11+ Works 3,889 Members 68 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Michael Herr was born in Lexington, Kentucky on April 13, 1940. He attended Syracuse University, but dropped out to travel in Europe and write. He served in the Army Reserve and wrote for publications including The New Leader and Holiday. From 1967-1969, he was a correspondent for Esquire magazine show more during the Vietnam War. He wrote the article Hell Sucks, which put him in the forefront of the journalists who were writing on the war at that time. The piece became part of Dispatches, a memoir of his time in Vietnam, which was published in 1977. He also wrote Walter Winchell: A Novel, an experiment in which he combined a novel and a screenplay to tell the story of one of the country's most influential gossip columnists. He was active in the motion picture industry with writing credits for Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Heart of Darkness, and The Rainmaker. In addition, he served as an associate producer of Full Metal Jacket. He died on June 23, 2016 at the age of 76. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Herr Michael, Micheal Herr

Works by Michael Herr

Associated Works

The Best American Essays of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 774 copies
The New Journalism (1973) — Contributor — 334 copies
The Portable Sixties Reader (2002) — Contributor — 324 copies
Reporting Vietnam: American Journalism 1969-1975, Volume 2 (1998) — Contributor — 266 copies
Rock Dreams (1974) — Introduction — 153 copies
The Mammoth Book of True War Stories (1992) — Contributor — 87 copies
Granta 8: Dirty Realism (1983) — Contributor — 72 copies
Amerika, Amerika bloemlezing — Contributor — 8 copies

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Reviews

The chaos of that war in unflinching prose.
 
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ben_r47 | 61 other reviews | Feb 22, 2024 |
Sorry, just couldn't get past page 50. The author's style is simply not for me. I found it all over the place. No specific narrative, non sequitur paragraphs and sentences that were simply too disjointed to read. I have no idea why this book is considered so groundbreaking and amazing? Maybe it was when it first came out, but this style of writing is just not for me. I am also reading The Things They Carried, also about Vietnam. This is an incredible book, and far superior to Dispatches. If you have one book to read about Vietnam, pass on Dispatches and read this one.… (more)
 
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BenM2023 | 61 other reviews | Nov 22, 2023 |
 
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Dermot_Butler | 61 other reviews | Nov 8, 2023 |
 
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blueskygreentrees | 61 other reviews | Jul 30, 2023 |

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Works
11
Also by
10
Members
3,889
Popularity
#6,516
Rating
4.1
Reviews
68
ISBNs
85
Languages
9
Favorited
5

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