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Product Description
Ken Babbs, famously a Merry Prankster and the best friend and working partner of Ken Kesey has at last finished his first novel and the wait was worth it.
Lieutenant Tom Huckelbee, "leathery as any Mexican come crawling out of the sage," and Lieutenant Mike Cochran, son of a "loquacious Ohio gangster," make an unlikely pair of Marine Corps officers training to be helicopter pilots who soon find themselves in the middle of a disorienting war.
Tough and comical, quiet and boisterous, and always vivid and poetic, Babbs is a writer at the top of his craft. Who Killed the Water Buffalo? manages to imbue the world in all its guts and glory through the eyes of a young man discovering what it means to be beholden to another—a book not to be missed.
Ken Babbs attended Stanford University and was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. A famous Merry Prankster who became one of the psychedelic leaders of the 1960s, he, along with best friend and Prankster leader, Ken Kesey, wrote Last Go Round. He lives in Dexter, Oregon.
Lieutenant Tom Huckelbee, "leathery as any Mexican come crawling out of the sage," and Lieutenant Mike Cochran, son of a "loquacious Ohio gangster," make an unlikely pair of Marine Corps officers training to be helicopter pilots who soon find themselves in the middle of a disorienting war.
Tough and comical, quiet and boisterous, and always vivid and poetic, Babbs is a writer at the top of his craft. Who Killed the Water Buffalo? manages to imbue the world in all its guts and glory through the eyes of a young man discovering what it means to be beholden to another—a book not to be missed.
Ken Babbs attended Stanford University and was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. A famous Merry Prankster who became one of the psychedelic leaders of the 1960s, he, along with best friend and Prankster leader, Ken Kesey, wrote Last Go Round. He lives in Dexter, Oregon.
Praise for Who Shot the Water Buffalo
"This book chronicles the onset of the Vietnam War and the end of that good deal. The author lived it; he is well-qualified to tell the tale . . . keeps the reader riveted" --Washington Times
"The Prankster spirit pervades Babbs's novel . . . [Babbs] has cooked up an often-funny, light-hearted romp with emough moments of war hell that we are reminded that, at bottom, the Vietnam War was, as the poster proclaimed, not healthy for children and other living things." --The VVA Veteran"Notorious Merry Prankster Babbs finally delivers a first novel, the vividly wild story of an unlikely friendship between two Vietnam war helicopter pilots-in-training . . . Babbs's witty characters turn otherwise grim situations into humorous events . . . Babbs's characters are crass and outspoken and buzz to life on the page . . . It's an impeccable, humorous heirloom, a shock of napalm that smells like...victory." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Think Catch-22 crossed with M*A*S*H set in Vietnam in 1962 . . . Entertaining . . . The humor is irresistible." --The Washington Independent Review of Books
"Former U.S. Marine Captain Ken Babbs was a pilot who climbed from the SAMissile-killing skies over Vietnam to the LSDippy hippie highs of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters . . . and lived. I know, because I saw him afterward. This book is Babbs, Part One." -- Tom Wolfe
"A lovely if chilling read, chilling because it brings home the reality of a tragic war." --Larry McMurtry
"Who Shot the Water Buffalo? has a marvelous antic spirit that is both hilarious and terrifying. It is one of the finest novels to come out of that catastrophe--perceptive, insightful, brave, and funny all at once. A blending of everything a good novel on that subject requires, by a first-rate novelist. " - Robert Stone
"At last, after almost fifty years in the hopper, the most famous unpublished novel in America is in print. Who Shot the Water Buffalo? is a splendid story of comradeship in a time and place of constant peril, but it's Babbs's irrepressible exuberance and vast, affectionate good humor that make the story go. I love this novel." --Ed McClanahan
"Riveting--funky and colorful, as you'd expect from a Merry Prankster, but written in a distinct, offbeat voice that Vietnam books have lacked up to now. "--Matt Gallagher, author of Kaboom
"Babbs has captured the bittersweet flavor of America's undeclared war on Vietnam--balancing his way along the tightrope between horror and absurdity with considerable style and wit . . . As an antiwar activist, I've been seduced. Never trust a Prankster." --Paul Krassner, author of Who's to Say What's Obscene?
"Babbs, former Merry Prankster and working partner of Ken Kesey, debuts with a Vietnam novel following a rugged Texan and an Ohio gangster's son as they finish flight school and land in-country." --Publishers Weekly Spring Announcements
"Babbs sings us an ode to a marine helicopter squadron serving in Vietnam prior to the outbreak of war, when the U.S. was acting as an "advisor." With pop-cultural quotes and allusions liberally sprinkled amid staccato prose, this first novel may feel to some a cross between Joseph Heller and Hunter S. Thompson. Part buddy movie, part simple observation, and part existential musing, the novel lets readers see and feel the world it creates as it follows Texan Tom Huckelbee and Ohioan Mike Cochran from flight school through their time in Vietnam. Huckelbee strives to remain sane through Cochran's unpredictable actions, a grinding schedule of sorties, R and R breaks, base politics, and the loss of flight-school friends. The strain of their circumstances builds to the final, most dangerous mission they fly. Babbs, a U.S. Marine whose service included piloting helicopters in Vietnam, brings eyewitness truth to the table as he pays homage to his fellow marines while showing how valor and duty can be embodied quite differently among one company of men." --Booklist
"Unique . . . an often funny, often light-hearted romp with enough moments of war hell that we are reminded that the Vietnam War (even in 1962) was, as the late '60s poster proclaimed, not healthy for children and other living things." --Richmond Times-Dispatch
"A strong individualistic tale of wartime experience from a man who served there." --Historical Novels Review
"This book chronicles the onset of the Vietnam War and the end of that good deal. The author lived it; he is well-qualified to tell the tale . . . keeps the reader riveted" --Washington Times
"The Prankster spirit pervades Babbs's novel . . . [Babbs] has cooked up an often-funny, light-hearted romp with emough moments of war hell that we are reminded that, at bottom, the Vietnam War was, as the poster proclaimed, not healthy for children and other living things." --The VVA Veteran"Notorious Merry Prankster Babbs finally delivers a first novel, the vividly wild story of an unlikely friendship between two Vietnam war helicopter pilots-in-training . . . Babbs's witty characters turn otherwise grim situations into humorous events . . . Babbs's characters are crass and outspoken and buzz to life on the page . . . It's an impeccable, humorous heirloom, a shock of napalm that smells like...victory." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Think Catch-22 crossed with M*A*S*H set in Vietnam in 1962 . . . Entertaining . . . The humor is irresistible." --The Washington Independent Review of Books
"Former U.S. Marine Captain Ken Babbs was a pilot who climbed from the SAMissile-killing skies over Vietnam to the LSDippy hippie highs of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters . . . and lived. I know, because I saw him afterward. This book is Babbs, Part One." -- Tom Wolfe
"A lovely if chilling read, chilling because it brings home the reality of a tragic war." --Larry McMurtry
"Who Shot the Water Buffalo? has a marvelous antic spirit that is both hilarious and terrifying. It is one of the finest novels to come out of that catastrophe--perceptive, insightful, brave, and funny all at once. A blending of everything a good novel on that subject requires, by a first-rate novelist. " - Robert Stone
"At last, after almost fifty years in the hopper, the most famous unpublished novel in America is in print. Who Shot the Water Buffalo? is a splendid story of comradeship in a time and place of constant peril, but it's Babbs's irrepressible exuberance and vast, affectionate good humor that make the story go. I love this novel." --Ed McClanahan
"Riveting--funky and colorful, as you'd expect from a Merry Prankster, but written in a distinct, offbeat voice that Vietnam books have lacked up to now. "--Matt Gallagher, author of Kaboom
"Babbs has captured the bittersweet flavor of America's undeclared war on Vietnam--balancing his way along the tightrope between horror and absurdity with considerable style and wit . . . As an antiwar activist, I've been seduced. Never trust a Prankster." --Paul Krassner, author of Who's to Say What's Obscene?
"Babbs, former Merry Prankster and working partner of Ken Kesey, debuts with a Vietnam novel following a rugged Texan and an Ohio gangster's son as they finish flight school and land in-country." --Publishers Weekly Spring Announcements
"Babbs sings us an ode to a marine helicopter squadron serving in Vietnam prior to the outbreak of war, when the U.S. was acting as an "advisor." With pop-cultural quotes and allusions liberally sprinkled amid staccato prose, this first novel may feel to some a cross between Joseph Heller and Hunter S. Thompson. Part buddy movie, part simple observation, and part existential musing, the novel lets readers see and feel the world it creates as it follows Texan Tom Huckelbee and Ohioan Mike Cochran from flight school through their time in Vietnam. Huckelbee strives to remain sane through Cochran's unpredictable actions, a grinding schedule of sorties, R and R breaks, base politics, and the loss of flight-school friends. The strain of their circumstances builds to the final, most dangerous mission they fly. Babbs, a U.S. Marine whose service included piloting helicopters in Vietnam, brings eyewitness truth to the table as he pays homage to his fellow marines while showing how valor and duty can be embodied quite differently among one company of men." --Booklist
"Unique . . . an often funny, often light-hearted romp with enough moments of war hell that we are reminded that the Vietnam War (even in 1962) was, as the late '60s poster proclaimed, not healthy for children and other living things." --Richmond Times-Dispatch
"A strong individualistic tale of wartime experience from a man who served there." --Historical Novels Review
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