Tim O'Brien

Things they carried -- Love -- Spin -- On the Rainy River -- Enemies -- Friends -- How to tell a true war story -- Dentist -- Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong -- Stockings -- Church -- Man I killed -- Ambush -- Style -- Speaking of courage -- Notes -- In the field -- Good form -- Field trip -- Ghost soldiers -- Night life -- Lives of the dead.

At 11:34 a.m. one Saturday in August 2019, Boyd Halverson strode into Community National Bank in northern California. "How much is on hand, would you say?" he asked the teller. "I'll want it all." "You're robbing me?" "Not you," Boyd replied, revealing a Temptation .38 Special. Angie Bing, the teller, scraped together $81,000. Boyd stuffed the cash into a paper grocery bag. "I'm sorry about this," he said, "but I'll have to ask you to take a ride...

"Best-selling author Tim O'Brien shares wisdom from a life in letters, lessons learned in wartime, and the challenges, humor, and rewards of raising two sons"-- In 2003, as an older father, O'Brien resolved to give his young sons what he wished his own father had given to him: a few scraps of paper signed "Love, Dad." Maybe a word of advice. Maybe a sentence or two about some long-ago Christmas Eve. Maybe some scattered glimpses of their aging father,...