Tim O'Brien
From Tomcat in Love (1998) by Tim O'Brien
Afterward, I stood studying Toby. I poked at him with my foot. "Hey, you," I murmured, but it was a very stupid turtle, more object than animal. It showed no interest in my foot, or my voice, or anything else in the physical universe. Turtle, I kept thinking, and even now, in my middle age, those twin syllables still claw at me. The quick t's on my tongue: turtle. Even after four decades I cannot encounter that word without a gate creaking open inside me. Turtle for the world--turtle for you--will never be turtle for me.
Biographical Notes
Birth: October 1, 1946, Austin, Minnesota
Author Tim O'Brien earned a B.A. in political science from Macalester College in 1968. Although against the Vietnam War, he was drafted in 1968 and served until 1970. He was assigned to Third Platoon, A Company, Fifth Battalion, Forty-sixth Infantry as a foot soldier and awarded the Purple Heart. He pursued graduate studies at Harvard University from 1970-1976 and interned at the Washington Post. He was a national affairs reporter for the Washington Post from 1974-75. He has written several novels, including Northern Lights (1975) and Going after Cacciato (1978), based on his Vietnam War experience. He has contributed short stories to Harper’s, McCall’s, and other periodicals. O’Brien has won several awards including the O. Henry Award in 1976 and 1978, the Best American Short Stories Award in 1977, the National Book Award for Fiction in 1978, the Heartland Award in 1990, France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger in 1990, and the Melcher Book Award in 1991. His war memoir, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home (1973), was named Outstanding Book of 1973 by the New York Times.
Selected Works
The titles below link to the catalog record in MnPALS, the Minnesota Historical Society’s library catalog. Please click on your browser's back button to return.
• Going after Cacciato
• If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home
• In the Lake of the Woods
• Northern Lights
• The Nuclear Age
• Speaking of Courage
• The Things They Carried
• Tomcat in Love
• The Vietnam in Me
Additional Resources
Minnesota Historical Society Library Links
• Search MNHS Library and Archives Catalog for author - Searches for works by this author in the Minnesota Historical Society’s library
• Tim O'Brien by Tobey C. Herzog
• Understanding Tim O'Brien by Steven Kaplan
Web Links
• Tim O'Brien - O'Brien web page with links to interviews, reviews, and more
• Bold Type - Interview with O'Brien about his book Tomcat in Love
• Dave Edelman Interview with Tim O'Brien - Transcript of Interview with O'Brien
• Tim O'Brien, My Lai, and America - Reviews of O'Brien's works that involve Vietnam