Paine, Tom. “General Markman’s Last Stand.” Scar Vegas and Other Stories.New York: Hartcourt, Inc., 2000.
Reason read: June is Short Story Month
Right off the bat I have to tell you “General Markman’s Last Stand” is a devastating story, devastating but (and this is a big but), not without hope. General Markman is about to retire from his Marine Corps command only on his final day he makes a career-ending move. As a man haunted by debilitating Vietnam War flashbacks he has to chose between his secrets and his future.
The first powerful sentence says it all but reveals nothing, “The general’s panties were too tight” (p 18).
Author fact: According to the dust jacket for Scar Vegas Tom Paine is a Princeton graduate. So is my grandfather.
Book trivia: Scar Vegas is comprised of ten stories. I am also reading “The Spoon Children.”
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Good Things Come in Small Packages” (p 102).
~*LunaSea*~ 