"A BEAUTIFUL, PAINFUL BOOK": FIRST EDITION OF IF I DIE IN A COMBAT ZONE, INSCRIBED BY TIM O'BRIEN
O'BRIEN, Tim. If I Die In a Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home. (New York): Delacorte/Seymour Lawrence, (1973). Octavo, half olive green cloth, original dust jacket.
First edition of O'Brien's first book, a profoundly moving record of his combat experiences in Vietnam, inscribed on the title page by him, "To T— H— Peace, always, Tim O'Brien."
One of the earliest books written by a soldier who fought in the Vietnam War, Tim O'Brien's If I Die in a Combat Zone "brilliantly and quietly evokes the footsoldier's daily life in the paddies and foxholes… O'Brien's is a personal document of aching clarity… a beautiful, painful book" (New York Times). O'Brien served as a combat infantryman in the region around My Lai from 1969-70. In 1970 he was honorably discharged as an infantry sergeant with seven medals, including the Purple Heart. "First Printing" on copyright page. Gift inscription.
A fine inscribed copy.