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Check for Availabilityout of stock. Click on the button below to search for this title in other formats.  This title in other formats:Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecomingby Jonathan Shay
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments: In his acclaimed book Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, Homer's classic story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. Drawing on his years of experience working with Vietnam veterans, Shay illustrates how the Odyssey can be read as a metaphor for the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. He also explains how veterans recover, and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture — danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy, and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam combat veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics. With a foreword by Vietnam veteran U.S. Senators John McCain and Max Cleland, representing bipartisan support for what Dr. Shay is trying to accomplish, Odysseus in America is an impassioned and cogent plea to renovate American military institutions — and a brilliant rereading of Homer's epic. Review:"Whether or not one agrees with Shay's prescriptive measures, this is a mandatory purchase for any library serving the military or their families, or where medical professionals deal with any kind of stress-related disorder. It is also a fresh take on a literary classic. Highly recommended." Library Journal Review:"While it's an intriguing argument, the case studies do not contribute to existing literature, and the tone of the book...comes off too often as hectoring or stridently didactic. Readers with a working knowledge of The Odyssey and a familiarity with the effects of PTSD among Americans who served in the Vietnam War may get the most out of this book..." Publishers Weekly Review:"Vibrant, provocative thinking and clarity of style on the page are Jonathan Shay's consistent hallmarks. Even those who disagree with his conclusions will find his work of profound value. This is a moral, insightful, stimulating book." Ralph Peters, author of Beyond Terror and Fighting for the Future Synopsis:Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-211) and index.
About the AuthorJonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D., is a staff psychiatrist in the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. His patients are Vietnam combat veterans with severe, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Visiting-scholar-at-large at the U.S. Naval War College in 2001, Dr. Shay speaks frequently at the invitation of U.S. military services, universities, and colleges. He lives in the Boston area. Table of ContentsWhy marriages don't last — Till divorce do us part — Doing without dads — Passing on parenthood — Education : the case of the missing men — The double standard : how much has really changed? — The fragility of masculinity — The ultimate assault : why rape persists — Homosexuality : an emerging alternative — The Black experience : a portent for whites — Pay, positions, power : inching toward equity — The pairing problem.
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