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,

more …

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.

less …
  • Plain View Press
  • Hardcover
  • October 2011
  • 292 Pages
  • 9781935514954

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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