Going After Cacciato
Tim O'Brien · b. 1946 · United States
Why it matters
A hallucinatory desertion, one soldier walking from Vietnam to Paris, is imagined by the platoon left behind to chase him. O'Brien's National Book Award winner turns a war story into a fable about escape and its impossibility.
At a glance
war novelmagical realism
Difficulty 5/10medium pace336 pagesA soldier's fantastical desertion narrative blurs memory, dream, and combat.
Deep dive
A soldier walks off the war toward Paris, and O'Brien keeps you genuinely unsure, chapter to chapter, whether you're reading memory, fantasy, or the one very long night actually happening at the guard post.
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