NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE
The year is 1968 and the Vietnam War is at its height. William
Carson, a World War II veteran teaching in a small New England Prep
School, has for more than two decades been haunted by nightmares whose
content he has never shared with his wife, Anne, or their two sons,
Joshua, a Marine on active duty in Vietnam, and Andrew, an ROTC college
senior bound for active duty following graduation. When Joshua is
reported missing in combat, the web of secrets and denial that has kept
the family together for more than twenty years begins to unravel as
Anne and William face the possible loss of their sons,
The year is 1968 and the Vietnam War is at its height. William
Carson, a World War II veteran teaching in a small New England Prep
School, has for more than two decades been haunted by nightmares whose
content he has never shared with his wife, Anne, or their two sons,
Joshua, a Marine on active duty in Vietnam, and Andrew, an ROTC college
senior bound for active duty following graduation. When Joshua is
reported missing in combat, the web of secrets and denial that has kept
the family together for more than twenty years begins to unravel as
Anne and William face the possible loss of their sons, and Andrew must
confront the tangle of love, obligation, and loyalty that he feels
toward his country, his father, his brother, his mother, and himself.
Nothing Left to Lose is a story of betrayal across
generations—of fathers who send their sons to war and mothers who let
them go—and the redeeming power of love and forgiveness.
- Plain View Press
- Hardcover
- October 2011
- 292 Pages
- 9781935514954
Buy the Book
$18.95
About Allan G Johnson
Allan G. Johnson is a writer, sociologist, and public speaker who has
focused most of his career on issues of social inequality. His
nonfiction books have been translated into several languages and his
novel,
The First Thing and the Last, was recognized by Publishers Weekly as a notable debut work of fiction in 2010 and by O Magazine as an April 2010 Great Read.
Praise
“In Nothing Left To Lose, the hard teachings of the Vietnam
War are reflected in one family’s anguished choices, and with a depth
of compassion that reveals fresh meaning for us today. This beautiful
and engrossing novel lets us see with fresh eyes what war-making costs
the soul of a nation, and especially its men. Here we find both a
chronicle of an age and a prayer for our future, perfectly tuned to
this historical moment.”—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
“Allan Johnson’s mournful yet ultimately hopeful novel captures
beautifully what history textbooks always miss: that wars overseas
exact enormous emotional and familial costs at home, and that for men
especially, it can be just as heroic to resist wars as it is to fight in
them.”—Jackson Katz, Ph.D., creator of video Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity and author of The Macho Paradox