THE LAOTIAN FRAGMENTS

by John Clark Pratt ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 22, 1974

In 1968 Laos is a phantasmal swamp of U.S. interests in conflict: rivals are the State Department, the Pentagon, the Agency for International Development (AID) and the CIA -- and meanwhile the Senate is investigating the U.S. commitment in Laos by holding hearings in Washington and sending Senators into the field. This novel is a jumble of documentary fragments, ""notes, memos, letters, tape-recordings, articles, book excerpts, poems, and official United States Government studies."" The jumble is left in a briefcase belonging to Air Force Major William Blake after he's shot down in a daring raid on a hidden enemy supply depot, and it's given to the narrator by Major Blake's estranged wife. Who was Bill Blake? He runs the U.S. air war in Laos but has no idea what decisions he's supposed to make or policies to follow or who else is in charge of what: he's a great leader, with the power of life and death, in a dream of oriental darkness and false bottoms, blind alleys, slippery turnings, fouled up weather and interchangeable heroes and traitors. We find him likable and well-intentioned -- an innocent whose death is heroic and pathetic and not very meaningful. Intricate and clever, at a distance.

Pub Date: May 22, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION