Notes

//**"That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him"**// In this story O’Brien discusses the story, “Speaking of Courage,” and tells the supposedly “true story” behind the fictional story. Norman Bowker, who hanged himself three years after the story was written, suggested to O’Brien that he write the story. In spring 1975, O’Brien received a letter from Norman describing how hard he found it to find any meaning in life. Norman had dropped out of community college and spent his mornings in bed, his afternoons playing pickup games of basketball, and his nights driving around aimlessly. O’Brien gives excerpts of long passages of Norman's letter, which suggested that O’Brien should write a story about a Vietnam veteran who feels like he died in Vietnam and cannot adjust to daily life. O’Brien makes comments on the letter and himself. He realised that he had an easier time adjusting to life after the war. He understands that he had been talking about the war through his writing and feels that the act of telling stories allows people towork through their war experiences and maybe cope with them a bit more easily. O’Brien then explains how he tried to work the details of Normanstory into a different novel, but this meant that he had to leave out some elements of the “true” story. This version was published as a short story, which Norman read and felt was terrible. A few years later, O’Brien received a note from Norman's mother explaining that her son committed suicide. O’Brien then clarifies that Norman was not responsible for Kiowa’s death, and that the Silver Star portion of the story is made up.