Autobiographical detail provides potent fuel for this uncommon saga
of a Vietnam vet's long, agonizing reorganization of the fragments
of his war-torn psyche - a moving first novel from San Francisco -
based Mulligan. The trials of Finn are only beginning when his tour
in Vietnam ends and he's dumped back in the States to fend for
himself. His family having emigrated from Scotland just in time for
him to be drafted, Finn went to war with even less reason for being
there than his fellow grunts - and quickly lost his grip after
witnessing the senseless slaughter of a magnificent white bull,
then having to fulfill a blood pact with his closest friend, who
was wounded in an ambush. Soulless, Finn comes home to wife and
child, but his alcoholism drives them away, and he spends 12 years
homeless, pushing a shopping cart and sleeping in a park along with
other vets. His condition deteriorates almost to the point of no
return, but his soul/anima (which he calls "Madman") has stuck
close in hopes of making him whole again; in a series of magical
transformations set in motion by his strong sense of Celtic
identity - and aided by the unlikely figure of Robert Louis
Stevenson - Finn slowly accepts Madman, along with the more
unsavory part of himself he calls "Redeyes." His friends who died
in Vietnam, and whose bloody ghosts have long tormented him, are
finally laid to rest along with his addiction, allowing him to
return to Scotland to prove himself worthy of his heritage. The
heroic recovery here is as much personal triumph as reminder of a
national shame. Mulligan's fine telling of the story ought to help
open a door of hope for others who may have been destroyed like
Finn and are still left behind. (Kirkus Reviews)
Shopping Cart Soldiers is a modern day Odyssean tale of the atrocities of war and its even more appalling aftermath. Set against the brutal realities of the conflict in Vietnam, John Mulligan tells the story of Finn MacDonald, an eighteen-year-old boy who is drafted soon after he emigrates with his family from Scotland. Upon returning from Vietnam, Finn is plagued by the terrible memories of all he has seen and is pushed into a haze of self-destructive behavior that tests his will to survive. Shopping Cart Soldiers chronicles Finn's painful and remarkable journey -- and his triumphant path to spiritual renewal and recovery.
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