Art Works Podcast: Tim O'Brien


By Josephine Reed
Tim O'Brien, (l) in Vietnam and (r) today. Both photos courtesy of the author
Tim O'Brien, (l) in Vietnam and (r) today. Both photos courtesy of the author
This week's podcast is a conversation with writer Tim O’Brien about his 1990 novel The Things They Carried, which is a Big Read selection. Although O'Brien is a veteran who served in Vietnam, The Things They Carried is a work of fiction presented as a memoir. A finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, the novel depicts the men of the fictional Alpha Company, including a character named Tim O’Brien, who survived Vietnam to become a writer. In The Things They Carried, O’Brien plays with facts to reveal deeper truths about war.

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