A Conversation with Tim O’Brien

Tim O’Brien is the author of The Things They Carried. Based on his experiences as a foot soldier during the Vietnam War, the short-story collection published in 1990 helped to define Vietnam War literature and is now widely taught in middle- and high-school curricula. O’Brien’s other books include the novels July, July; In the Lake of the Woods; and Going After Cacciato. His work has earned a National Book Award, the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award. Now retired from teaching, O’Brien served as the endowed chair of the MFA program at the University of Texas San Marcos biannually from 2003 to 2012