Arizona Moon: A Novel of Vietnam

"The lush, beautiful but deadly Vietnamese forests and mountains are personified as enemies or friends, depending on who traverses them. Finally, although the banter between American Marines is crass and funny, the intensity of their bond, highlighted by their determination to rescue and protect their own, exemplifies the goal of their jobs in the middle of the direst, life-threatening conditions. Ironically, the NVA team shares the same love of brother and country. Arizona Moon is a unique, highly recommended historical novel that will remain seared in every reader's memory."--The Historical Novels Review "Written by Vietnam veteran J.M. Graham (who served as a combat corpsman with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in 1967) and grounded in his real-life experiences, Arizona Moon: A Novel of Vietnam is a harrowing, unforgettable novel about the nightmarish Arizona Territory in Vietnam. Riveting from cover to cover, Arizona Moon is vivid and harrowing in its detail, and highly recommended." --The Midwest Book Review Recipient of the W.Y. Boyd Award for Excellence in Military Fiction by American Library Association "The novel's beating heart is the power, scope, and ramifications of duty, loyalty, and brotherhood. A second narrative thread is concise, focused, and nuanced. Exploring its themes at a pace that never slackens, the story's tension, especially during combat scenes, ratchets up so tightly at times that gunshots seem to echo. Increasingly oppressive and malevolent as the conflict intensifies, the Vietnamese jungle becomes a cinematic setting, echoing noises fraught with danger as illusions shift in the rain and mist between enemies and friends. Arizona Moon is an intense study of men at war, with a restrained and realistic conclusion."--Foreword Magazine "This is one of the best of the Marine Corps Vietnam War thrillers I've read, and I highly recommend it. We get lots of cowboy and Indian imagery, a debunking of John Wayne, the myth of the Island of the Black Clap, rear echelon bashing, seeing of the elephant, and Iwo Jima references. ARVNs are bashed, too. All the usual stuff, that is, plus an exciting thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. If you are looking for a Marine Corps thriller, make this your next one."--The VVA Veteran "J.M. Graham knows combat. He doesn't flinch at gruesome descriptions of the destruction to the human body when men fight each other to the death. Arizona Moon begins with combat on the first page and doesn't let up until the epilogue. The novel works. As a tale of Marines in combat in Vietnam, it comes alive. Most important, it portrays combat as it really is, without glorification or shying away from its ghastliness. In that respect alone, Arizona Moon is a noble effort." --Washington Independent Review of Books "Arizona Moon is a splendid novel about the Marines in the Hell of the Arizona Territory in Vietnam, written by a Navy Corpsman who was there. He makes the action, the drudgery, the heat so real you can smell it. Thanks to J.M. Graham for sharing his memories of what it was really like."--JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY, author of We Were Soldiers Once...and Young, We Are Soldiers Still, and Triumph Without Victory: A History of the Persian Gulf War "Reading James Graham's Arizona Moon, I am reminded of William Blake's 'World in a grain of sand': With the exception of the epilogue, the entire arc of this story encompasses barely twenty-four hours, yet Graham packs his narrative with vivid details and the gritty accuracy needed to convey what it felt like to be a Marine infantryman in Vietnam. Though many storytellers have tried, only a few have succeeded. J. M. Graham joins that short-list." --W. D. EHRHART, author of Ordinary Lives: Platoon 1005 and Vietnam-Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir "Arizona Moon will take its place among the best literature of the Vietnam War. It ranks among The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, Fields of Fire by James Webb, and Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. J. M. Graham's novel joins the canon of must-read works about one of our nation's most searing conflicts."--TOM YOUNG, author of The Mullah's Storm, Silent Enemy, and Sand and Fire