Fortunate Son

Lewis B. Puller Jr. 1991

Devastation Rating

Existential Dread
war Vietnam memoir disability

Our Take

Puller returned from Vietnam missing both legs and most of his future. This memoir tracks the slow collapse — the drinking, the phantom pain, the marriage falling apart. He won the Pulitzer and then killed himself. The book is a wound that never closes.

This page contains affiliate links. If you buy a book through one of these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure →