Exiles

By Philip Caputo

Book Overview

In this startling new work of fiction, the acclaimed author of A Rumor of War creates three powerful dramas of dislocation, following his characters places they have no business being and into situations that are vastly--and dangerously--beyond their depth. In the Connecticut suburbs, a motherless young man suddenly becomes the beneficiary of a wealthy older couple, whose generosity has unsuspected motives and a sinister price. On an island in Australia's Torres Strait, an enigmatic castaway throws kinks into the local culture and sexual politics. And in the jungles of Vietnam, four American soldiers undertake a mystical search for a man-eating tiger. Filled with atmospheric tension, crackling with psychological observation, and evoking masters from Joseph Conrad to Robert Stone, Exiles is a riveting literary experience.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679768386
• ISBN13: 9780679768388
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Worth every penny as an intro to a good writer

I read this book about two years ago while sailing in and around Vancouver Island. The book made me forget that I was on such an adventure. "Standing In", the first of three novellas contained within, absorbed me and effected me so deeply that I can remember the exact feelings I felt at the various places on the boat. Buy the book for that story alone. Amazing. The others are good too, but do not compare with the first.

Good, very good and great.

This is a spectacular book. The opening novella is the weakest of the bunch, but is more than made up for by the other two. "Paradise," the second, is a perfectly told slice of mounting tension that lies somewhere between Robert Stone and Alex Garlard (closer to the former). Caputo nails the dialect and sense of place, amazingly so (having visited that part of the world, I'm particularly impressed). The final novella is a masterpiece, one of the best things written about the war in Vietnam, a dark vision that reads like a rollercoaster ride.

As good a book of short stories as any published last year

Caputo does not hesitate to write from anyone's point of view, or about any place, and his is a fullness of vision that seems in very short order in today's literary scene. These stories call upon an intimite knowledge of the kinds of human frailty and types of strength and ways we endure, and Caputo's portrayal of human beings pinned between the choices that harvest life or invite death will haunt even the most jaded reader. "In the Forest of the Laughing Elephant," especially, brings to mind both APOCALYPSE NOW and THE THINGS THEY CARRIED without seeming derivative of either of them, and can stand alongside any work about the madness of war, not just Vietnam. This is a book to read and be affected by--a reminder of why we ever decided to read in the first place.