Wandering Souls
And Other Stories
-
- $17.99
Publisher Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Caputo returns to the heart of the human condition with Wandering Souls, a collection of powerful stories that explore war, love, nature, life, and death.
In the gripping title story, a Vietnam vet revisits the war-torn landscape of his past, searching for the grave of a forgotten soldier—only to uncover far more than he bargained for. In another tale, a wildlife photographer in the African savanna risks everything for a chance at true love. A thief escaping Central America finds himself aboard a ship, only to be thrust into the peril of an approaching storm. These and other stories in Wandering Souls are told with the authenticity and keen insight that have made Caputo’s writing unforgettable, offering emotionally intense and richly atmospheric narratives.
With his distinctive style, Caputo delves into the complex relationship between man and memory—sometimes haunting, sometimes redemptive—capturing moments of profound emotional reckoning that compel his characters to confront their pasts and the indelible marks left by the places that shaped them. In Wandering Souls, the past is never truly gone; it is a force that defines us, for better or worse.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Caputo, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of the classic Vietnam War memoir A Rumor of War, offers a resonant story collection in which characters seek connection and atonement under extreme circumstances. The cinematic title entry concerns a Vietnam veteran who returns to Hanoi decades later to search for two injured black ops soldiers his troop was forced to abandon. Hoping to find closure for himself and a sister of one of the soldiers, he instead uncovers unsavory details about their mission. "A Near-Death Experience," set during a Kenyan safari, features a middle-aged wildlife photographer whose increasingly dangerous attempts to impress an attractive younger graduate student nearly cost him his life. Caputo riffs on Raiders of the Lost Ark with "The Deliverer," a morality tale about phony archaeologist Covington, "one of those dudes who loots tombs and ruins," and his shifty associate Jed Tyner, who worms his way onto a Bermuda-bound boat captained by a scrupulous Navy veteran on the eve of a hurricane. With "The Traveler," Caputo paints a mesmerizing portrait of an aging American couple's ill-fated voyage up the Mekong River. Throughout, he capably infuses the stories' lushly drawn locations with themes of loss, desire, and death. The author's fans will be thrilled to find that his powers remain undiminished.
