New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989. Hardcover first edition - An epic novel of the Vietnam War which depicts "the ways men become brutalized by carnage, and sometimes immobilized by pity. [It] conveys the senselessness of it all; the fatuity of the top command, the knowledge of the men that they were fighting an unjust, unwinnable war. Schaeffer builds slowly, always careful to show wellsprings of character, following Pete as he returns home to endure the double penalty of post-combat psychosis and the hostility of many Americans toward Vietnam veterans. . . a tale of almost unmitigated sorrow, it is also an authentic testament to a tragedy of our times." 535 pp.