What a book!! Caputo brings us to the REAL battlefield in flesh and blood. Caputo's narrations are more alive than any live coverage of CNN or BBC. The book offers a great "means of escape" from boring routine in those of us who are living in average industralized societies.

I picked this book up, after someone suggested it to me. I couldn't put it down. It is a very honest account of what war correspondents went through. Mr Caputo seems to have led a rather interesting life. All I can say is that I am glad I have never been to war, and hopefully never will. It gives an interesting perspective into what human nature can be. I urge you to read this book.

Mr. Caputo's book is an incredibly moving analysis of the tragedies of war and its devastating effect being forced to live with war can have on the human persona. I applaud Mr Caputo and thank him for sharing his experiences with us in such a moving history.

This is an extraordinarily good read. The character development is complex, non-patronising, well researched, and above all entertaining.
This is not a light action read by any stretch of the imagination. Rather a detailed look at the complexity of human relationships including the hope, the joy, the intentional, and more often unintentional pain that these combined with unavoidable, cataclysmic events evoke.
Philip deals sensitively, and sometimes brusqely, with interracial issues (in this case particularly native Indian, but also Scandinavian), the whole pre- and post-Vietnam thing (from a sometimes scarily detailed perspective), marriage, work, intimate friendships, and the remote lifestyle of the logging industry in Northern USA.
I found the end simply mind blowing and would recommend this book to anyone who has thought seriously about their own sanity, who has served in the Forces whether or not they agreed with their country's ideology, who has hurt or been hurt by someone. Of course, if you don't fit into the above categories, you probably haven't lived :o)
It was a pleasant change from the hackneyed descriptions that plague so many of our current best selling authors. I guess this book isn't a best seller simply because it strikes so close to home.
If you read nothing else this year, get this book!

It's been years since I first read Phillip Caputo's "Indian Country", but I still remember it very well. It's the kind of story that really stays with you - the troubled Vietnam combat vet dealing with flashbacks and terrible memories, the earthy, loving, loyal wife struggling to understand, and the child at the center of this volatile family.
It is a wonderful book, deeply moving and emotional, and has the ring of truth. I was moved to tears several times in the reading of this novel and I heartily recommend it to anyone who is in search of something meaningful to read. If you're looking for simple, escapist fiction, this is not the book for you. Read "Indian Country" and it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

It is somewhat hard to describe this book in a few sentences. Even though mostly fiction, the main character plays an uncanny resemblance to the author himself. Something that is especially noticeable if you ever read Caputo's Autobiography "Means of Escape." The picture this book paints of Beirut is frighteningly realistic, something that even non-fiction books written about the War fail to achieve. Likewise, the portrayal of a photojournalist, one who is asked to risk his life "to beat AP by 5 min." is superb by any account. Anyone who is familiar with Caputo's literary work knows how good this man is at molding and developing complex, intelligent, and memorable characters. Delcorso's Gallery is a prime example of this. I urge anyone who at the least is curious about what happened in Beirut to read this novel in addition to the history books out there. I do not know if history will repeat itself somewhere else in the future, but it is important to be aware.

Faisal Juma.

Caputo' Horn of Africa is a well-written novel in a style that emulates or aspires to Graham Greene or Joseph Conrad. I enjoyed the book, and admired the writer but the story never completely 'clicked' for me.
Horn of Africa is a psychological/military thrill that takes place in a fictional province of Ethiopia, Bejaya, that closely resembles Eritrea but is not really supposed to be anyplace. The story is told through a first person narrative of one of the characters, Charlie Gage. Gage is a burnt out journalist hanging around Cairo. He's recruited by a simultaneously creepy, pompous and shadowy CIA character to go along on a clandestine mission to Bejaya to assist local rebels against the Ethiopians. Gage is joined on his mission by an uptight, by the book Britain with local experience and a larger than life American, Jeremy Nordstrand, with a borderline psychotic sociopathic philosophy about life and their mission. Nordstrand is both philosopher (in a base way) and soldier, with obvious capabilities despite his slightly unbalanced philosophy. Soon enough, he becomes the group's real leader. Nordstrand first willingly descends into violence, testing both himself and his idea of society, and then slowly descends into madness.
Caputo has Gage set the tone of the novel in the first two pages: the reader knows that this is not a story with a happy ending, and that ugly things happen. This is both good an bad: I thought it simultaneously gave a great sense of foreboding throughout the novel, but when the dark events occur they were anti-climatic.
Also, Nordstrand wore his psychosis on his sleeve, as did the British character. I had a hard time believing that they would be put in a position of power on an important mission, rogue or not. The story was interesting but the base premise, in my mind, was a little hard to believe.
Anyway, I don't think you will be disappointed by Horn of Africa. Its extremely well written with deep characterizations, and an interesting story. Is it quite up to Conrad or Greene? Maybe on one of the formers' worst days... but its still a good novel and a worthwhile read.

Mind you, I said "novel" rather than "book" or "story." Caputo's best book, of course, is his memoir "A Rumor of War." His best story (actually, novella) is that incredibly haunting piece "Standing In" from the collection "Exiles."

As far as novels go--and I hate to say this, because I like very much what this writer stands for--Caputo has certainly written some stinkers. "Indian Country" is truly awful, "Equation for Evil" reads like a Grisham-type potboiler, and "DelCorso's Gallery" has a lot of clumsy writing and emotional posturing that mars a potentially good story. I haven't read "The Voyage" yet, but I have noticed that there are a considerable number of negative reviews.

If you read any of Caputo's fiction, read "Horn of Africa." It is a good "second-rate" novel. Edmund Wilson once called Jean-Paul Sartre a "first-rate second-rate novelist." If Caputo's work was as consistently good as "Horn of Africa" he might merit that title himself.

Caputo, like his contemporary Robert Stone (whose work, although superior, bears a great deal of similarity to Caputo's), is going for the Graham Greene-Joseph Conrad approach; dignifying the novel of adventure and action with philosophical depth and resonance. This novel is an exploration of the old "heart of darkness" theme (the idea that man, unfettered by civilization, tends toward brutality and atrocity), set in the deserts of eastern Africa (in a fictional country called Bejaya, which seems to be a composite of Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, etc.) No doubt, Caputo is no Conrad, but "Horn of Africa" at least comes close to the caliber of one of Greene's lesser novels.

The story, narrated by a troubled Vietnam veteran, Charlie Gage, concerns a group of mercenaries/thrill seekers who are hired to run guns to an Islamic mujahideen group fighting against the Ethiopians. Eventually they become involved in the actual fighting themselves.

The main character, who emerges as the real leader of the group, is Jeremy Nordstrand, a Nietschze-reading Great Blonde Beast who seems to be modeled after Jack London's Wolf Larsen (from "The Sea Wolf"). Nordstrand, having misread "Beyond Good and Evil", seeks self-liberation or self-definition through the violent imposition of his will upon those weaker than him--those fit only to be "slaves." Nordstrand views his adventure in Africa, far from the reach of laws and police forces, as an oppportunity to explore his darkest impulses with impunity. Charlie Gage, the Marlow-like character, watches horrified as Nordstrand plunges to the bottom of the moral abyss, and then lives to tell us about it.

This is a tightly-woven narrative with solid, rich characterization.

Caputo here gives us Conrad in a modern context--and in a way we of the Pepsi generation can understand. Herein we find supposedly civilized men thrust into a primitive situation; but then, what is war, anyway? Who are the savages? Lines drawn by rationalism are blown away by the winds of the moment. The story will grab you by the neck, and you will see man as he naturally is.

"A Rumor of War" is a darkly disturbing book. It is set in what was the early, "optimistic" Vietnam in the spring of '65 when we thought we were fighting for "freedom" and before the reality of the place hit home. Vietnam hits Lieutenant Caputo very quickly, as it must have for all Marine Corps platoon leaders. It's all right there-booby traps, mines, trip wires, leeches, foot blisters, jungle rot, constant shelling, dysentery, pigs eating corpses and cold C Rations. As a Vietnam vet, I was surprised the author never mentions RATS!, but we both know they were there too. (THEY were everywhere). Lt. Caputo's transfer to a staff job is worse than the field, so he transfers back to the bush as a platoon leader.It's more of the same-patrolling and repatrolling the same trails, the same hills, the same villes. All watched over by unsupportive and bureaucratic commanders. "RW" offers yet another look at the Vietnam War, one more pessimistic than most because so many of us felt that the years of '65 and '66 were more positive than this. I might suggest reading Joseph Owen's "Colder Than Hell" to compare the Marine experience in Korea with Lt. Caputo's. Reading the late Bernard Fall's "Street Without Joy" will make us aware, again, that perhaps there was never a time to be optimistic about Vietnam. I must admit that I constantly found myself curious as to how I would have handled many situations in "RW". How would I have measured up? What would I have done? How would the men have judged me? While the story of "RW" tends to stray at times, I found no fault since the author is relating a painful part of his past. One small point: "RW" would benefit from better maps-these are so often lacking in military books. The bottom line:"A Rumor of War" belongs on the bookshelf of any serious military book reader or anyone searching for yet another angle to the frustrating Vietnam War that affected so many of us.

It is hard to imagine that such a gifted writer is also capable of being an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. In "A Rumor of War," author Philip Caputo offers us an intimate portrait of the Vietnam conflict. Caputo uses a powerful lens and provides an up close examination of what the war is like for a Marine infantry "grunt."

This book is about the Vietnam danger, the boredom, the casualties, the weather and the mood of the American soldier. Throughout the book one can feel the soldiers enormous desire to "go home" and abandon the macho madness of the Vietnam tragedy. Caputo's protagonist, the element that moved the plot is the Marine's desire to survive. The author brilliantly uses the constant threat of "death" to act as a powerful antagonist that lurks from page to page.

Best of all, this book documents the brutality of war using the language of the Marine "grunt." Hence, it provides a front row seat to the thoughts and emotions of those who were condemned to risk their lives each day while in Vietnam. This is a great book that deserves attention..especially from the leaders of the nation who audaciously talk of war while never having the courage to set foot on a battlefield.

Caputo describes "the splendid little war" as his road from an enthusiastic idealist poisoned by the romanticized view of war as a chivalrous and noble enterprise to the dehumanized and desensitized wreck that he becomes during his tour in Vietnam. The book is an amazing testimony about the true nature of war with all its atrocities and horrors. Caputo brilliantly captures the endless despair of being strained in the jungle with no clear reason for being there, the hopeless madness of chasing the guerillas and the agony of loosing friends. But the most important aspect of this book is that it shows how a normal mentally healthy person can be turned into a thoughtless killing machine in the course of a few months, fast on the trigger, without any remorse for his victims. Caputo uses very strong and vivid images such as "pigs eating napalm-charred human corpses" to force the reader into his story and feel what Caputo has felt. Very realistic book that cannot leave you indifferent, definitely up there with Remarque's "All quiet on the Western front." If you want to know what fighting the Vietnam War was really like, I can't imagine how any book can possibly be better than Rumor of War.

I liked the way this book begins in childhood but quickly moves into day to day life of a Vietnam veteran and his family learning to cope & live with PTSD. The problems are so subtle that they kind of sneak up on both the charactures in the story & the reader. Set in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan

This book is undoubtedly some of the best writing that one will read. As a former Marine who also happens to be from the U.P. I actually felt as though this book had been written for me. Caputo writes with such thorough detail that you are drawn into the story which will pull your emotional strings to the verge of breaking. This is a must for anyone who wants pure reading enjoyment from start to finish. Caputo has the magical ability to transport you from the front lines in Viet Nam to the mysteriously beautiful and lonley Northwoods of Upper Peninsula Michigan.

Caputo touches this reader as few authors can. He has managed, again, to put into words the feelings shared by so many veterans. As a veteran of Desert Shield/Storm, I find myself able to relate to the protagonist, Starkmann, in an uncanny number of ways. The conflicts within Starkmann are as accurate a reflection as I have ever read about the emotional roller coaster of post-combat life. The feelings of loneliness, and of being an outsider at home, of being in "Indian Country" in one's home are an arrow to the heart. Any veteran seeking a verbalisation of their feelings, and further understanding of their emotions through words, must read this book. Caputo has again proved himself to be the writer of the combat veteran. A brilliant work.

I read this book about two years ago while sailing in and around Vancouver Island. The book made me forget that I was on such an adventure. "Standing In", the first of three novellas contained within, absorbed me and effected me so deeply that I can remember the exact feelings I felt at the various places on the boat. Buy the book for that story alone. Amazing. The others are good too, but do not compare with the first.

This is a spectacular book. The opening novella is the weakest of the bunch, but is more than made up for by the other two. "Paradise," the second, is a perfectly told slice of mounting tension that lies somewhere between Robert Stone and Alex Garlard (closer to the former). Caputo nails the dialect and sense of place, amazingly so (having visited that part of the world, I'm particularly impressed). The final novella is a masterpiece, one of the best things written about the war in Vietnam, a dark vision that reads like a rollercoaster ride.

Caputo does not hesitate to write from anyone's point of view, or about any place, and his is a fullness of vision that seems in very short order in today's literary scene. These stories call upon an intimite knowledge of the kinds of human frailty and types of strength and ways we endure, and Caputo's portrayal of human beings pinned between the choices that harvest life or invite death will haunt even the most jaded reader. "In the Forest of the Laughing Elephant," especially, brings to mind both APOCALYPSE NOW and THE THINGS THEY CARRIED without seeming derivative of either of them, and can stand alongside any work about the madness of war, not just Vietnam. This is a book to read and be affected by--a reminder of why we ever decided to read in the first place.

This one certainly doesn't deserve to be out of print. Loosely based on the story of Stockton, CA mass murderer Patrick Purdy, Equation for Evil is an excellent read. Caputo must have done some reading in neuroscience before writing the novel, but I got the feeling that he couldn't quite figure out where to go with the book's central theme -- whether the roots of evil are spiritual, biological, or both. Much is made of this issue in the first half of the novel, but it sort of fades out towards the end as the book takes on the shape of a conventional thriller. One of the book's major characters, psychiatrist Leander Heartwood, rather unconvincingly sheds his belief that the roots of violent behavior are in the brain and decides that evil is "a choice." Perhaps so, but the choice to open fire on a group of schoolchildren is not one that most of us would remotely contemplate, leaving the question of what makes people like Purdy tick hanging.

Having done some reading and writing about neuroscience issues myself, I can empathize with Caputo's confusion, but research conducted in the years since this book was published has drawn even stronger connections between neurological abnormalities and violent behavior. I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the implications of all this and remain somewhat baffled. Seems like Mr. Caputo had a similar reaction.