Dream Baby

by Bruce McAllister

Mary, a trauma unit nurse in Vietnam, inadvertently becomes caught up in a CIA project on combat-induced ESP experiences

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

434 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 1989

About the author

Bruce McAllister is an American writer best known for his science fiction, fantasy and literary fiction. His short fiction, which he began publishing as a teenager ("The Faces Outside," 9TH ANNUAL OF THE YEAR'S BEST SF), has appeared over the years in genre magazines, original anthologies, “year’s best” anthologies, literary quarterlies and college readers; won a National Endowment for the Arts writing award; and been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Shirley Jackson awards. He has published three novels--HUMANITY PRIMe, the "esp in war" Vietnam novel DREAM BABY, and THE VILLAGE SANG TO THE SEA: A MEMOIR OF MAGIC, which Michael Bishop has called "an eloquent ode to the universal mysteries of both place and coming of age." He has edited and co-edited (with Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss) science fiction and fantasy anthologies; and has served on James Tiptree, Philip K. Dick and Nebula juries. In high school he sent a questionnaire about literary symbolism to l50 of the world's most famous writers, half of whom responded. (See Sara Funk Butler's 2011 article on their responses at the PARIS REVIEW blog.) Bruce grew up in a Navy family with marine-science and anthropology/archeology interests, lived as a child on both American coasts and in Italy (where he first fell in love with fantasy and science fiction), and, after a career in university, is now a full-time writer and writing coach living in southern California.

Reviews

[Peter Landau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise of soldiers in Vietnam who can see death coming and other extra-sensory things, like that Twilight Zone episode (which makes an appearance late in the novel). Starts with vignettes of supernatural recollections from combat vets, then the narrative kicks in as told by a nurse who can dream of impending demise. Those vignettes are scattered throughout the story and I liked them better than the plot. It’s well-written, just never grabbed me. Wish I had ESP, so I could have saved myself from having to read it.

[Linda Munro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an older book, originally published in 1989, set during my youth; the Vietnam War. The book narrates the journey of a female nurse who struggles to join the war effort, up close and personal; in the middle of all the action, Vietnam. What she focuses on are the South China Sea beaches, what she gets is stark reality.

When her dreams of beautiful beaches turn into the nightmares of war; so do the real dreams that haunt her sleep. She begins dreaming of American youth that she has never before seen, yet she suddenly knows them intimately, she knows how they will arrive in at her Medvac location and she knows if and when they will die. But, suddenly, she finds sanity elusive and nightmares her reality, and slowly she breaks. She is reduced to drug use simply to be able to navigate through her shift.

One day she meets a man who has accompanied his friend to the location, staying with him until the blows of death extinguish every ounce of life. This man is special, he understands what is happening to her and before long she is transferred to the midst of the fighting and is no longer a member of the Armed Forces, but rather a guinea pig in the CIA’s PSI Experiment.

This book is disturbing, in the fact that you either allow yourself to sink into the psychological impact provided or the entire tone escapes you. It is also disturbing in the fact that I have often heard of people becoming able to strange fetes that no one can truly understand during war times, and here it is, described in such a way that you too feel you are sinking into another realm.

According to the dust jacket, every bit of this is fictional, my thought, there is no way one man can write what has been written here without being extremely close to such things, if not an intimate part himself.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

În toamna lui ’68 eram în ultimul an de liceu şi am început să am ceea ce s-ar putea numi premoniţii intense. Din septembrie ’68 şi până când am absolvit am ştiut că voi fi rănit în Vietnam. Şi când spun asta să nu credeţi că e acelaşi lucru cu faptul că toată lumea ştie că va fi rănită în Vietnam. Eu am grupa de sânge l-A şi numărul meu de loterie e 1, dar vreau să spun că ştiam că-mi voi pierde mâna dreaptă. Când le-am zis amicilor chestia asta, au început să râdă. Joey Martinez îmi zicea: „O să fii nevoit să-nveţi să ţi-o freci cu stânga, bulache.” Nimeni nu pricepea. Mă trezeam în toiul nopţii cu imaginea asta în minte şi nu puteam s-o uit. Îmi vedeam mâna zăcând nemişcată pe pământ, ca un crab. Ar fi trebuit să fie amuzant, dar nu era. Nu aveam presentimentul că am să mor, ci numai că am să-mi pierd mâna dreaptă. Iar când s-a întâmplat, în octombrie ’69, aproape de Song Mao, nu m-a mai afectat. Nu m-a durut chiar aşa de tare şi mi-au pus un garou pe braţ imediat. Am ştiut că are să se-ntâmple, aşa că n-a fost realmente un şoc. Câteodată mă gândesc că de-aia am ştiut, ca să nu mă prăbuşesc şi să mor din pricina şocului. La drept vorbind m-am simţit uşurat. Îmi fusese teamă de-atâta timp… Atât că nu vedeam cum aveam s-o pierd, de la ce fel de bombă-capcană o să mi se tragă.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tour de force of fantasy fiction deeply rooted in the harsh reality of the Vietnam War. It powerfully (and unexpectedly) complements the best nonfiction books in the Vietnam canon, including Tim O'Briens The Things They Carried and Michael Herr's Dispatches. Can't believe I missed this when it was first published in 1989. A compelling and moving read from start to finish. Breathtaking in style and story. Like nothing I've read before.

[Raluca Irimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eu sunt zgarcita cu stelele de rating, dar asta chiar a fost cea mai buna carte care mi-a picat in mana in ultimul timp. Plina de pasaje foarte grafice, te transpune in mijlocul campului de batalie. Recomand!

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

My quick take in 1996. 'Very trippy Vietnam war story. Like 400 pages of flashback.'

[Elena Pîslariu · Rating 1 out of 5]

O pierdere de timp... :|

[Garrett Calcaterra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd pretty well figured the epistolary novel was a relic of the past, but Bruce McAllister has given the form new life with his faux Vietnam War testimonials and audio transcripts in Dream Baby. The story is compelling and intense, challenging the reader's sensibilities with both the prose and the visceral depiction of war.

I think fans of historical fiction, military non-fiction, and speculative fiction would all enjoy this book. It's not a bubble-gum read, which is probably why it's not received more popular success, but damn it I couldn't help but tear through it.

The version I read was the full novelization, not the original novella which the novel was based on.

[J. Prewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book validates my experience in discussions I've had with combat soldiers while in Vietnam. In a few instances, a soldier could sense when someone in their unit might "buy" it. They couldn't explain it except to say, "I stayed as far away from that person as possible." Sometimes that feeling was confirmed. I wrote a novel about a soldier who had the ability to foresee. A reviewer said that the soldier's psychic abilities were "more distracting than gripping." Understood. There is a lot yet to learn about this phenomenon. In terms of the writing, I believe this book would have had more impact if it were not as drawn out.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a great concept: soldiers in Vietnam who display extraordinary and paranormal "talents" that are then exploited by the military and CIA for covert operations. The main character, Damico, is pretty well written. The story, though, felt like it could have been shortened by about 150-200 pages. The first 150 and last 100 pages were quite good. The middle of the book was really bogged down with extraneous detail.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editorial Review:

The acclaimed visionary chronicle of the nightmare that was Vietnam. Army nurse Mary Damico can see the future. She knows which soldiers will die on the battlefields. Col. John Bucannon, commander of the CIA's secret psychic warfare project, wants to exploit her dark gift, regardless of the apocalyptic carnage his experiment will unleash.

[Monty · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time.
It's Vietnam War + ESP + Gov't Conspiracy + Impossible Mission + Great writing.

[Deedee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Combat stress triggers paranormal senses. Our heroine, a nurse in VietNam during the Vietnamese War, dreams of the soldiers who will be her patients before they are in fact wounded.