The Vietnam War, America's longest -- and in some ways most devastating -- conflict, changed the course of a generation and left millions wondering, "Why?" Here, in the first-ever collection of poetry from both sides of the war, Vietnamese and American poets use their art to ponder this haunting question and to evoke, among other things, the extreme violence of the fighting, the unforgettable stench of death, and the irreversible destruction of a way of life. Arranged to mirror the progression of the war, the anthology begins with the American military buildup in the early 1960s and ends with contemporary poems about Vietnam-related issues that remain unresolved today. Topics include the experience of arriving in Vietnam, the bond between soldiers, the mourning of the dead, the plight of Amerasian orphans, and the lingering psychological effects of combat. This chronological format provides a unique and compelling reading experience that offers both the pleasures of poetry and the revelations of history.
From Both Sides Now brings together a wide variety of opposing views, with poetry by American and Vietnamese soldiers, orphans, widows, priests, monks, political figures, and antiwar protesters. In addition to including extraordinary works from well-known poets such as Bruce Weigl, Margaret Atwood, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sharon Olds, Robert Bly, Allen Ginsberg, Grace Paley, Philip Levine and W. S. Merwin, editor Phillip Mahony has scoured the globe to find amazing and, in some cases, never-before-published poetry by North and South Vietnamese soldiers and poets and the first postwar generation of Vietnamese-Americans, whose powerful verse about finding a place in a new and different culture recounts the latest chapter in the ongoing story of the war. Together, the words of these poets form a modern, many-voiced epic about the most important event in recent American history. Poignant and accessible, the poems collected here will leave an indelible impact on all readers -- not only poetry lovers but everyone who lived through, and those who want to learn about, the Vietnam War.