Dau

by Ed Dodge

Nam, Not the way it was supposed to be. The way it was.

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

George Edward Dodge Jr., a.k.a. Ed Dodge was an American author. He was born and raised in Owosso, Michigan. After graduating from Corunna High School in 1965, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, as an Air Traffic Controller. After a time, he volunteered for service in Viet Nam. He was assigned to the 8th Aerial Port Squadron's Mobility Team, and spent much of his tour of duty at Song Be, near the Cambodian border. After being wounded and recuperating in a military hospital in Japan, he returned to Vietnam and was recruited by MACV-SOG. He was honorably discharged in 1968 as a Staff Sergeant.
After the war, he wrote his novel 'Dau', which was published by the Macmillan Publishing Company in 1984. The book was subsequently published as a mass market paperback by Berkley Books at the end of 1984, with a second printing in 1986.
Ed Dodge passed away on February 13, 2009 at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Reviews

[Gena Lott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been interested in reading books about Viet Nam because it happened in my youth. It seemed so pointless, so unexplained. . .
This is a pain-filled book (Dau means pain in Vietnamese) and is not always uplifting or clean. It is full of strong images and harsh realities. But it helped me understand what happened over there, and how it impacted the young men who went.

[John Oldfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Curt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A war story.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and enjoyable read.

[David Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mild spoiler.

Better than most of the comments. Heavy-handed, yes. It's a little different because the protagonist goes through therapy and comes out the other side OK.

[Liam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really wish I could in good conscience give this book more than two stars, but unfortunately that would be less than honest. Ed Dodge, who died a couple of years ago, clearly had a great deal of talent for writing, and I suspect that, had he written a second novel, it would have been extremely good. Sadly, he never did; or, perhaps, he just never managed to get it published. As talented a writer as he was, this book practically screams "first novel" on every page. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad book, but it is definitely not even close to being in the same class as James Webb's Fields Of Fire; or for that matter any of Dennis Foley's or Leonard B. Scott's excellent books, or probably another twenty or thirty books I could list here if I put my mind to it. It's not a bad book; it is simply that there are so many truly great novels in this particular sub-genre, and I have read most of them...

[SmarterLilac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrifying. Racist. Disturbing.

Run, do not walk from this godawful book.