Other, Lesser Men

Other Lesser Men

Reviewed by Fred Phillips for Readers' Favorite

Other, Lesser Men by G.A. Di Cintio could be classified as an after-war
novel. It chronicles the struggle of one soldier returning to his lower
middle class neighborhood after his tour of duty in Vietnam. He faces
many battles – looking for work, an alcoholic father, a brother gung-ho to
follow in his older brother’s footsteps to Vietnam, a false rape charge still
hounding him from the past, and a neighborhood that looks down on him
(for both his false rape charge and his father’s boozing), and his status as
a Vietnam vet. Even the sexy girl with whom he has begun a relationship
comes with a host of challenges.
Other, Lesser Men is uncompromising in its honesty. Any of us who were
alive during the Vietnam War realize that vets from that conflict got a raw
deal. They were disliked by their youthful peers because they went off to
war instead of demonstrating against it. They were also disliked by many
of their parents’ generation because it was a losing war filled with drugs,
rock and roll, and an endless stream of brutal atrocities against the
people of Vietnam. G.A. Di Cintio has painted a picture of one decent man
attempting to validate his own post-soldier existence in a war that would
much rather see him just go away. It blends the character’s introspection
with dialogue, and action with personal relationships in a way that
provides a little extra understanding of a time which no words can
accurately describe. For every veteran who gets a handshake and a thank
you today, there was a Vietnam vet who got cursed at and disrespected.
This book gives us a brief but powerful glimpse at a different time in
America.