Larry Heinemann
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Larry Heinemann (born 1944) is an American novelist native to Chicago. His body of work is primarily concerned with the Vietnam War. Heinemann served in Vietnam from 1967-1968 with the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division. Heinemann's experiences there are documented in his most recent work, Black Virgin Mountain, his only nonfiction piece. Black Virgin Mountain also chronicles his return trips to Vietnam, as well as his political views concerning the war and Vietnam.
While serving in Vietnam, Heinemann fought in a battle near the Cambodian border that filmmaker Oliver Stone also happened to fight in. Heinemann writes of the battle in his novel Close Quarters, and it also forms the basis for the climactic battle scene in Stone's Platoon. Heinemann also discusses this battle in Black Virgin Mountain.
Heinemann's fictional prose style is uncompromisingly harsh and honest. His first novel is Close Quarters (1977). His second and most critically acclaimed novel is Paco's Story (1986). Paco's Story controversially won the National Book Award in 1987, beating out Toni Morrison's Beloved. Paco's Story relates the quasi-picaresque postwar experiences of its titular protagonist, who is haunted by the ghosts of his dead comrades from the war. These ghosts provide the novel's narrative voice.
Heinemann's third novel, Cooler by the Lake (1992), departed from the topic of the war. It was highly unsuccessful, both critically and commercially.
Larry Heinemann the war novelist is not to be confused with Larry Heinemann the musician and musical collaborator/composer, most notably from Blue Man Group.
