A Good Day to Die is a novel that captures the existentialism brought about by drugs and war, told through the journey of a Vietnam vet and his girlfriend. The book is praised for its fine rendering of the love affair between rednecks and the rest of us, and its deceptively off-handed style.
A Good Day to Die is a novel that delves into the casual but pervasive existentialism brought about by drugs and war. The story follows a Georgia cracker Vietnam vet with a battle-scarred face and his beautiful girlfriend as they embark on a journey across small US towns. The book is filled with booze, sex, dope, and country music, offering a mindless, inconsequentially cheerful ride that ultimately leads to an inconsequential accident. The deceptively off-handed style of the novel may blind readers to its depth, but it is considered one of the best books written in America on this subject. It also presents a fine rendering of the love affair between rednecks and the rest of us, a combination of nostalgia and escapism that induces Ivy Leaguers to trade the respectable life for the wildness they usually come into contact with only at the movies.
Quick quotes
If you've got to go, you might as well do it by blowing up a small unecologically-minded dam on the Clearwater in Idaho, especially if you're a Georgia cracker Vietnam vet with a battle-scarred face, a beautiful chick who excites you about as much as a couple of reds, and enough pills to simulate every mood in the world, plus some.
The deceptively off-handed style may unfortunately blind readers to the fact that this may be the best book written in America about the casual but pervasive existentialism brought about by drugs and war.
It also presents as fine a rendering as we're likely to see in a long time about the little-heralded love affair between the rednecks and the rest of us, a combination of nostalgia and escapism that induces Ivy Leaguers to trade the respectable life for the wildness they usually come into contact with only at the movies.