{"product_id":"in-country","title":"In Country","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBobbie\u003cbr\u003e Ann Mason's debut novel--\"a brilliant and moving book... a moral tale\u003cbr\u003e that entwines public history with private anguish.\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e --\u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"How Ms. Mason conjures a vivid image of the\u003cbr\u003efutility of war and its searing legacy of confusion out of the searching\u003cbr\u003equestions or a naïve later generation is nothing short of masterful.\" --\u003cem\u003eKansas\u003cbr\u003eCity Star\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSamantha \"Sam\" Hughes is in her senior year of high school in rural\u003cbr\u003e Kentucky. Her father, whom she never knew, was killed in Vietnam before she\u003cbr\u003e was born. Sam lives with her uncle Emmett, a veteran who appears to be\u003cbr\u003e suffering from exposure to Agent Orange. Amidst worrying about her uncle and\u003cbr\u003e yearning to figure out who she is and learn about the father she never knew, \u003cbr\u003e Sam develops feelings for Tom, one of Emmett's veteran buddies. Tom and\u003cbr\u003e Emmett attempt to shield Sam from the truth of what they endured, but she has\u003cbr\u003e become convinced that her life is bound to the war in Vietnam. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn Country\u003c\/em\u003e is both a powerful and touching novel of America's\u003cbr\u003e ghosts and a beautiful portrayal of a family, not unlike many others, left\u003cbr\u003e bruised and twisted by the war. At the time of its publication in 1985, \u003cbr\u003e Richard Eder's rave \u003cem\u003eLA Times\u003c\/em\u003e review concluded: \"One of the questions\u003cbr\u003e for post-war American literature, dealt with variously by Updike, Cheever, \u003cbr\u003e Roth, Salinger and a host of others, is whether the larger capacities of the\u003cbr\u003e human spirit can be exercised, so to speak, in a motel room equipped with\u003cbr\u003e color TV and a drinks refrigerator. The answers vary; Mason has found her own\u003cbr\u003e striking variety of 'yes.'\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51943548682471,"sku":"9780060835170","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_43199d40-ae33-47b4-8c82-6eca9c46e537.jpg?v=1775325642","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/in-country","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}