In the first war Americans didn't care to understand; a young M.A.S.H. surgeon finds himself in a dusty hospital tent on the Korean front. He and his new wife back in Manhattan exchange daily letters in which they express the timeless urgency of young love and a mutual contempt for war. Even though their day-to-day lives offer stark contrast; his spent in a blood-smeared apron and gloves; hers teaching high school Spanish and taking dance classes with Martha Graham; Mel and Dorothy are determined to chronicle these disparate experiences for one another so that; in their words; 'we will not be strangers.' By examining the minutiae; they avoid exploring the emptiness; by framing their lives in the normalcy of the 1950s; they avoid confronting the reality that their lives are not theirs alone to control.Attending separate Rosh Hashanah services; his in a mess tent and hers in a Park Avenue synagogue; they are reminded of the pain of their separation. In Mel's hands; Dorothy's letters comment on Sid Caesar; Edward R. Murrow; Joseph McCarthy; and Adlai Stevenson; while Dorothy holds anguished accounts of the carnage and uselessness of war. Now; more than 45 years later; we are just beginning to understand Korea as a kind of dress rehearsal for another lengthy and unpopular conflict -- Vietnam. And Dorothy and Mel are just beginning to understand how their youthful experiences -- together; even if only by mail -- laid the groundwork for a mature and enduring union.
#227152 in Books Columbia University Press 2016-10-25Original language:English 10.00 x 1.60 x 6.60l; 1.00 #File Name: 0231179561424 pagesColumbia University Press
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