Free Copy of Matterhorn This Weekend!

In 1969, at the age of twenty-three, Karl Marlantes was dropped into the highland jungle of Vietnam, an inexperienced second lieutenant in command of a platoon of forty Marines who would live or die by his decisions. Marlantes, who grew up in Seaside and now lives in rural Western Washington, spent decades writing about that experience in the novel Matterhorn, which was published to great acclaim last year -- among its many awards it was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was selected as the Adult Debut Book of the Year by independent booksellers nationwide. We wrote about Matterhorn in our blog last year.

This year he has written a nonfiction book -- one that is deeply personal and candid -- on what it is like to experience the ordeal or combat. In What It Is Like to Go to War, Marlantes weaves riveting accounts of his combat experiences with thoughtful analysis, self-examination, and his readings -- from Homer to the Mahabharata to Jung. In his new book he tells frankly about how his is haunted by the face of the young North Vietnamese soldier he killed at close quarters and how he finally found a way to make peace with his past, and he makes it clear just how poorly prepared our soldiers are for the psychological and spiritual aspects of war. You can listen to an interview with Marlantes on NPR here.

For the Veterans Day weekend only, anyone buying a copy of What It Is Like to Go to War will receive a free copy of Marlantes' bestselling novel Matterhorn. This is offer is only good for books purchased Friday through Sunday, November 11-13.