Chain Reading

I first heard about this book when Trussoni posted an excerpt on thenervousbreakdown.com. The excerpt was about doing acid and was really funny to me despite having never done it myself. After reading this one passage from her I wanted to see what other mischief she'd gotten into so I went out and got the book, only to find out that it really isn't about a rebellious teenage existence. It was even better.

The memoir is about growing up in a home tainted by the Vietnam War, where Trussoni's father served as a Tunnel Rat. The book intermingles memories of Trussoni's childhood and her father's recollections of Vietnam. The story is about a young girl who, no matter his faults, loves her dad. She stands by his side through a divorce, in which her mother keeps her other two siblings.

She spends most of her childhood at the neighborhood bar listening to her dad tell war stories when he's drunk enough to want to talk about it. And she becomes a defiant teenager just like all of us. In the end (well, it's actually a storyline throughout the book) Trussoni goes to Vietnam to try to quell the demons she's seen through her father's eyes. It's a frightening experience, and Trussoni tells it with such description you actually feel like you're there with her.

This book is by far the best memoir I've read recently. I learned a lot about Vietnam that I didn't know (I had never heard of Tunnel Rats). And even though my childhood was nothing like Trussoni's, I really connected with her character. Being the oldest daughter and being a daddy's girl doesn't change no matter where you grow up. We're loyal to the end, even when we show him tough love. I highly recommend this book.