Own an autographed copy of the author's debut novel. Anyone who is an admirer of Oliver Stone's films already knows the role Vietnam has played in both his personal and public lives. He has made three films about the war and its aftermath: "Platoon", "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Heaven and Earth". Now he has also published a novel that skirts the borders of autobiography, starting with the protagonist named Oliver. The novel grew out of three major experiences in young Oliver's life: His time as a civilian teacher in a Saigon Catholic school, his return to America aboard a merchant marine ship and his eventual return to Vietnam as a soldier. Stone originally wrote the novel in 1966 at the age of 19. In a fit of frustration and despair after numerous rejections from publishers, he "threw several sections of the manuscript into the East River one cold night and, as if surgically removing the memory of the book from my mind, volunteered for the Vietnam of 1967" (Oliver Stone). For many years, the remaining sections of the manuscript lay forgotten in a shoebox until eventually Stone recovered them and, with the benefit of distance, rewrote the novel. An astonishing debut.This title is no longer in print as a hardcover. This copy has no flaws. A scarce copy thus. One of the finest American filmmaker/writers of the 20th century. A flawless copy. ISBN 0312167989.