Of Rice and Men

Richard Galli

Of Rice and Men portrays the Viet Nam Conflict the way M*A*S*H* portrayed the Korean War.

Guy Lopaca ended up in the Army, studied Vietnamese for a few months, then was sent over to Viet Nam as an interpreter. He ended up as an interpreter for the agriculture department in northern South Viet Nam. Their job is to teach the Vietnamese how to farm their land with new crops. The Americans provide new rice that produces much more rice per acre - although it doesn't taste as good as the slower growing rice.

Arthur Grissom landed in Viet Nam on the same arrival as Lopaca. He became an excellent clerk in one of the paper pushing offices. He is so good that every other man in the office hated him. He is a quiet loner who makes his own small waves.

Richard Galli's Of Rice and Men is populated with characters that are composites of men he served with in Viet Nam. He had a job in a unit like Lopoca's. Galli wanted to tell his story - a story of some of the men who hoped they were helping or making a difference but were fairly sure they weren't. Paul Gianelli keeps reenlisting and returning to Viet Nam. Tyler DeMudge takes tests trying to purposefully answering all the questions wrong - and still gets great test scores. Now he runs the Youth program - and spends his time looking for "lost" volleyballs to teach the Vietnamese youth the American game. Guy discovers that he can't remember anything he learned in linguist's school and doesn't understand anything the locals say. Their village liaison, Sgt. Dong of the Vietnamese military police has a wife and mistress who are jealous of each other and is actually Viet Cong. Then there is Virgin Mary - the American nurse who is a high class prostitute at night. She has her own rules and sticks to them.

Of Rice and Men takes a sardonic look at the life that some G.I.'s led that is the behind the scenes action. These men are in danger of being killed like any of the soldiers on the front lines. Yes, they're relatively safer, but not much.

Galli also shows some of the psychological issues the soldiers had. These men's fathers were often World War II heroes. That was a noble war. The conflict in Viet Nam was misguided, full of poor judgement, and unwinnable. These men had lived with their ancestors' ideals - which really didn't fit in in this Southeast Asian country. Although present throughout the novel, Galli gives a better explanation of the thought processes involved in an afterword.

A whole generation gained a different world view of war than the one their parents had. The Viet Nam Conflict showed all that can go wrong rather than have an uplifting and patriotic outcome as wars like World War II. The Conflict shaped the Americans who followed the generations who came of age in the 1960's and 1970's. Galli's story doesn't show the blood and gore (too much), does show how young, single men survive in a world completely foreign to them, and how even behind the battle lines the Viet Nam war affected those who were involved.

There is foul language and masturbation. There is cynicism and scariness. There is humor and hopefulness. There is even the beginnings of a romance - to hopefully be completed back in the United States. Of Rice and Men is a book that defies definition. I found the book readable, at times amusing, and thought provoking throughout. This book isn't for everyone - it's often ribald or crude. It is also good for showing how people try to do their best even when they know it's not going to help.

5/22/11 From my email: "Thanks for the review. Not every author can get on the best seller list. Most of us have to be content knowing that someone out there is reading the book and might even like it."
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Best wishes
Richard Galli

After all these years of book reviews, it's still nice to get an author response. They always surprise me.

Notice:  Non-graphic violence, Strong indecent language, Suggestive dialogue or situations