Reviews for Vietnam and Other American Fantasies

The average rating for Vietnam and Other American Fantasies based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-03-23 00:00:00 Johnny Hollingsworth although i read this book appox. 6 years ago, i remember it being the first text that really clarified things for me about the US invasion of Vietnam. what i felt was extremely valuable was that it not only deconstructs how the history of this event has been alternately silenced and manipulated, but also exposes the mechanics of how the US government proactively created a collective, national "memory" around the war that continues to justify its actions from 30+ years ago. also important, the text addresses how the "story" of this war has since been reconstructed in films and media that use racist portrayals of Vietnamese people juxtaposed with heroic US soldiers for even further justification. in light of the 5 year anniversary of the US occupation in Iraq (among its countless other imperial/neo-colonial actions, including the ambiguously titled War on Terror), this book's in-depth analysis of how controlling the popular imagination is critical to sustaining a long-term, "unpopular" war, seems particularly relevant. just to give you an idea of the (sometimes unusual) terrain covered by this book... if i can recollect, i think the author gives a whole chapter to talking about the role that science fiction/comic book writers have played during (and since) the Vietnam war by creating anti-war allegories and imagery to counter the dominating and all-consuming pro-war narrative of the US govt and its complicit media. (i think that it was this book that got me excited about how science fiction can be politicized; for a great "sci-fi" book [NOT about this conflict], please see Octavia Butler's Kindred.) Furthermore, this book had an incredible analysis about the culture and campaign of POW/MIA, a totally fabricated historical non-event whose physical manifestation helped enable the crafters of the Vietnam war to rationalize the US staying in Vietnam for 12+ years. The POW/MIA flags are still flying next to the US flag practically everywhere as if to say that, 30+ years later, there is STILL no need to question the lies that were the basis for the invasion of Vietnam...and by default, the current one in Iraq. In retrospect, I don't remember what my critiques of this book were... and I usually have them. If any of you take it upon yourselves to try this out, please remind me if there is anything utterly problematic. I know that I'm a different person than the 22-year-old version of me that read it! (and just to be aware, there is a lot of imagery in this text, and some of it is graphic.)

Review # 2 was written on 2007-12-03 00:00:00 Barbara Welling The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the sabre rattling over Iran, and the amorphous War on Terrorism have sparked a renewed interest in the Vietnam War. Franklin discusses the use of images that came out of the Vietnam War, the manipulation of the history of the anti-war movement, Vietnam veterans literature, the myth-making and lies surrounding the POW/MIA issue, and the consequences for the future. I highly recommend.