The Short-Timers (1979)

I just finished this book last night and wow. It was a very emotional experience, knowing this was a semi-autobiographical novel written by a Vietnam veteran. One of the most gripping war novels I've ever read with a particularly intense ending.

This novel was the source material for Full Metal Jacket and I think the movie does an amazing job capturing the essence of the book. However, it still will not prepare you for the brutality, the horrors, and the gallows humor, but also the unbelievably sharp acumen Gustav Hasford delivers in this novel. It is graphic and disturbing at times but, man, it is an important read, probably a work that doesn't get discussed enough, considering how celebrated its film adaptation is.

Immediately after finishing the library book (evidently, the only copy in the Alaska Library Consortium), I was shocked to find this book has not received a reprint since the 80s. So, this is not an easy book to find in print.

Hasford's estate at one point posted all his works on the Gustav Hasford website but it appears the works have been taken down. I am enclosing a link posted by Montclair University that provides The Short-Timers novel in full.

Again, an intense, graphic read but I highly recommend it, if you're up for it.

https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/i2l/shorttimers.pdf