European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse A f 1 a it t of f Vietnam novel sends message War is terrible a time of War by Michael Peterson pocket books,580 pp., $19.95 Ron Jensen Stah Wriley within the 500-plus pages of a a time of War a author Michael Peterson has Woven a message he Hopes readers will detect. A that wars terrible. Its awful. There a nothing worse a says the Vietnam Veteran now living in Germany. A War in t it Isno of Chuck Norris rescuing the pos its mutilation its widows. Its grown men just Peterson knows his subject. He has been there. Slivers of shrapnel still lodged in his leg bring a Limp to his gait 20 years after his tour of duly As a Marine lieutenant in Vietnam. Like the protagonist in his Book his greatest fear is that his two sons now in High school will have to fight a War. The characters son goes to War As a Green Beret. Peterson says his boys will not. A a it a my Nightmare a he says. A i would go to saudi Arabia. But i done to want my children to go to saudi Arabia. Id tie them up. I d break their his distaste for War is Woven in his epic novel. That critics have called a the winds of War of. Vietnam. This is an ambitious work not just a series of firefights and nighttime ambushes that Mark Many Vietnam novels. Peterson stale has depth. It is the Story of Bradley Lawrence Marshall a personal envoy of president Johnson the president has asked Marshall to find a Way to extract his country honorable from the War. The Story follows Marshall s efforts in 1967 and 1968. Peterson 44, says he always wanted Taw rite but that calling initially was sidetracked. A studied political science at Duke University do was hired by the state department in 1966 to assist with a study in Vietnam. A a Gen. William Westmoreland wanted More men More munitions a Peterson says. A the. Wanted More divisions. He had to have the data to prove the War could be won with More men and Muni. Tons. A a the entire study was a fraud a a the decision had already been made to pump a More men and equipment into the War he says. A amp is Ron Jartman Vietnam Veteran Michael Peterson s greatest fear is that his sons might have to go to War his Job simply was to fill in the Blanks to justify it. A i quit and i join tithe marines. I do it any More Quot he says. Peterson had an unusual reason for going to War. He had seen enough after action reports to know its dangers. But he wanted to write. And to write he figured he needed to live. Quot i needed experience. I needed to do things a he says. �?o1 was caught up in that Hemingway _ during ramp a in Sydney Australia Peterson began to make Good on that Promise. In a hotel room he penned in a hangover handwriting Quot the first pages of a combat novel about Vietnam. After his wounds ended his wartime experience Peterson returned to the United states and his novel. When finished it garnered some polite Rejch tons from publishers who said nobody wanted Obook signing tour Michael Peterson will be visiting some stars and stripes bookstores in Germany during january to sign copies of his Book. His schedule a Vogel Weh 1-3 . Jan. 5a Heidelberg 1-3 . Jan. 6 a Frankfurt 1-3 . Jan. 12. \ read about Vietnam while the War was being fought. Peterson continued to dabble in writing. His manuscripts were praised but rejected. Finally a publisher asked Peterson a agent to Tell him to write a a big books about Vietnam. A a time of War is the result. Praised in the United states and developed As a miniseries by Abc the Book is receiving even greater respect abroad. It has been translated Intoc viral languages including italian dutch and German. A British publisher or j dared a record number of copies. A a that a the greatest satisfaction a Peterson says. He says the europeans have responded to the Antiwar message in his Book More than the americans. The Book worked As a catharsis for Peterson to shed the emotional baggage he carried from the Jungle. It was a troubling time he says he was spat upon by a woman As he walked through a new York Airport in his uniform. But Patron sat the Airport har refused to let the Homecoming Marine pay for his drinks. He Hasni to visited the Wall in Washington a the memorial to those killed in Vietnam. A i wont go see the Damn thing. I Bear it a he says. A in my Case i guess the Book is my _ the Book will be available in paperback Al stare and stripes bookstores. 11 will be discounted to $4.45 during crisis boosts prophecy Book sales for authors publishers and retailers of books about prophecy and religion the Middle East turmoil brought some Good news. A the instant United states troops were deployed to the Middle East i sold out of my Stock of nostradamus books a said Charles Coleman a Book buyer for a Chain in Atlanta a now in a having trouble reordering because the distributors Are out of Stock at bookstores across the United states sales of bibles prophecy books and books warning of armageddon have soared since aug.-2, when Iraq invaded Kuwait several Book chains also report Sharp increases in sales of the Koran the sacred Book of islam. A a some booksellers say customers have been buying religious and prophecy books in unprecedented numbers this year in an Effort to make sense of the political upheavals in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Moreover the approaching millennium is helping to spark interest in books that purport to explain what is in store after the year 2000. A the More unstable the world gets the More people look to these kinds of books a said Steve Oates purchasing manager for the Riverside Book and Bible House in Iowa City. A Bible sales Are up 25 percent Over last year with a Good portion coming in the last few months when Book sales Overall have been sluggish a said one Book executive. But the biggest sales increase has probably been in the books attributed to the French astrologer and physicist Michel de Notredame who Mied in 1566. There Are at least 10 titles under his name in print because the prophecies Are in the Public Domain and have Many different translations. A t among the things he supposedly foresaw was a destructive War in the Middle East. _ new York times Page 16 c to plus sunday december 9,1990
