WHAT READERS ARE SAYING…
“It takes courage to experience and write about the war described herein. The reader can only imagine the pain and suffering to live and write about such a compelling war story. A reader will find a heroic struggle of man’s capacity for brutality and discover with the author the gift of life—a capacity for strength and kindness amidst our national moral tragedy.”
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Captain, US Army 1967-69
“Having interviewed hundreds of Vietnam veterans and gotten to know many of them and their families, I’ve learned a good deal about their experiences, both in the war and in the decades after their return. Each story is different, yet common threads connect them. Poisoned Jungle weaves many of those threads together, while also containing unique images and experiences of the sort that cannot be invented by someone who had not gone through them. The first section, set during the war itself, reads like a memoir, and the rest of the novel opens out from there as the characters struggle with the physical, psychological and moral injuries suffered during the war and try to find a place in a world that is supposed to be home, but is often unwelcoming or uncomprehending. Through it all, a spirit of hope and humanity shines through. The wounds of war never entirely disappear, but it is possible to move past them. James Ballard has created a remarkable work that will ring true to many Vietnam veterans and their families and do much to educate the rest of us about them. As someone who has never been to war, I know that I will never fully understand what these veterans went through, but as an interviewer, I have found that listening to them helps close the gap between us. Poisoned Jungle tells a story well worth listening to.”
Dr. James Smither, Director
Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project
“Reading Poisoned Jungle was difficult at times because it truly depicts the way it was in the Nam.”
Vietnam veteran
1st Marine Division, 1968-69
Author, Luck of the Draw
“Some wars don’t end when the fighting stops. In Poisoned Jungle, James Ballard forcefully captures a medic’s fears, confusion and strength on the ground in Vietnam in prose that mirrors the best of Tim O’Brien. But his story goes deeper, in the eloquent depiction of the struggle to readjust to stateside life, a flight to find oneself, and an eventual landing spot away from the clatter of the guns. James Ballard’s work represents in tones that are eminently human the timeless quest for peace, one that transcends all wars, both external and internal.”
Author, Arc of the Comet
2017 Kindle Book of the Year Nominee in Literary Fiction
“I had the privilege of reading the author’s original manuscript of Poisoned Jungle. I found myself drawn into the events that form the backdrop for the book James Ballard has written.
The circumstances of what happened in those jungles and the experience these young men faced in the aftermath as they returned home was compelling. Poisoned Jungle will give the reader an appreciation for what veterans of Vietnam experienced from the horrors of the battlefield to the uncertainty of returning to civilian life.
The descriptive and visual nature of the writing is excellent. I was immersed in the story to the point that I could almost taste the tepid water from Andy’s canteen. The subtle insight into the effects of defoliating chemicals used in Vietnam, continuing to affect both military and civilian populations to this day, is written in a compassionate and understanding narrative.”
Author,