Reviews for Something about a soldier

The average rating for Something about a soldier based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-07-19 00:00:00 Scott Yarman Anybody who enjoys Charles Willeford's fiction owes it to themselves to read this memoir. Not only are the stories remarkable (their impact is oddly heightened by deadpan delivery) but also you will see the author's formative influences. One could also regard this as a companion to "From Here to Eternity".

Review # 2 was written on 2021-03-19 00:00:00 Jack Wallace I could not put this down. I've been reading as many of Willeford's books as I can get my hands on (all of the Hoke Mosley fictions,) but after that, it thins out, in terms of availability. This is where I need the Library of Congress back in my life again. I enjoyed this book so much I couldn't put it down. "Something About a Soldier," (not to be confused with Mark Harris's novel of the same name Something about a Soldier , which I also admired.) There was much in this raunchy military memoir that I could relate to, though Willeford's adventures in the army took place during the American Depression. He joined the military to escape the lack of work and money. He writes about the tedium and boredom of much of his first hitch in the Air Corps as a fuel truck driver in the Philippines, but also provides graphic details about his frequent drunks and sexual escapades with local prostitutes in his off-duty time. He also describes local natives, drinks and food - delicacies like 'baluts,' which were odiferous fertilized duck eggs, something I remember reading about in James Crumley's Vietnam era novel, One to Count Cadence . He hung out with a couple Signal Corps men who, he said, could copy fifty words a minute in Morse code. His description of the whores he encountered in Hawaii brought to mind the characters from James Jones' classic WWII novel, "From Here to Eternity." His training with the Cavalry during his second hitch was equally fascinating. As is his habit, Willeford teaches you all of the names of horse parts as well as equipment. Willeford fancied himself a poet, though he dropped out of junior high before enlisting in the army at sixteen, in the depths of the Great Depression, to escape a life of grinding poverty in Los Angeles. He was a voracious reader, devouring the work of Thomas Wolfe, Steinbeck and Jack London, as well as some of the hack writers of his day - Tiffany Thayer, Donald Henderson Clark, etc. - writers popular with his army buddies. For being a reader, one uncle nicknamed him "Captain Creampuff." That says it all. Willeford ended up serving twenty years in the army, and emerged from WWII as a much-decorated veteran. He did go to college much later in life and taught at the University of Miami. He authored nearly twenty books, including many popular detective novels. He died in 1988, just two years after the publication of this book. I really enjoyed Willeford's story and was sorry to get to the end of it. Wished I could call him up and chat. No dice with that. R.I.P., Will. And thanks for sharing these great stories from your youth. Highly recommended.