- Paperback: 328 pages
- Publisher: AuthorHouse (15 July 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1410728757
- ISBN-13: 978-1410728753
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.7 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
90 Day Wonder-Darkness Remembered
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Product Description
Review
Hello and Congratulations! I am writing with good news. Your book (90 Day Wonder) has been named a Finalist in the History/Historical Non-Fiction category of the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards! C. Goulet, Awards Administrator, www.IndieBookAwards.com
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Leon Cooper was a young US Navyofficer who spent three years in the Pacific during WWII. Like others in the ?GreatestGeneration,? he was prepared to do his duty in the defense of his country, buthis stand-up nature brought him into conflict with Captain Boda, the commandingofficer of the ship on which he served. Captain Boda was a ?Mustang,? anenlisted man of many years of service who received a ?Battlefield? commission.Boda bore a deep resentment toward ?gentlemen? officers like Cooper who werecommissioned after only 90 days? training.Boda?s sociopathic behavior,including his reckless commands resulted in the deaths of a number of Cooper?sshipmates. This ?heightened the conflict between thetwo men. Cooper?s penchant to stand firm angered the Captain to the extent thathe plotted to have Cooper killed during the course of the six invasions ofJapanese-held islands inwhich Cooper was a major participant. Cooper tried unsuccessfully topersuade the Navy High Command to take action against Boda, but wound upgetting himself in a worse position with the Captain.After his discharge from theservice Cooper was still beset with a burning need to wreak vengeance upon themurderous Boda, even resorting to an abortive attempt to kill Boda - now an Admiralaboard the Presidential yacht, the Potomac. When Cooper finally stumbled uponthe means to give Boda his just deserts, he was thwarted by a death-bed promiseto his wife to leave vengeance to the Lord. But Cooper found peace with himselfafter he found a way to keep his promise and even the score with Boda.
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First Sentence
The skies over D.C. had been leaden all day with intermittent showers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The skies over D.C. had been leaden all day with intermittent showers. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Co-author Leon Cooper recounts his experiences as a U.S. Naval officer during World War II. The story goes backwards and forwards in time, but mainly begins around the time Pearl Harbor was bombed. The reader glimpses several key people in Cooper's life, such as Lt. Commander Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Then there is Captain Boda of the Harry Lee who took an instant dislike of Cooper and began to make life very difficult. In fact, Boda is to Cooper what Vader is to Luke, a dark and maleficent force that needed to be reckoned with.
Then there is the return to civilian life. With all he has witnessed, Cooper and Alberta (the love of his life) must somehow cope with not only the events during Cooper's military time, but also events from his childhood.
***** If you enjoy reading about history, biographies, or just the events around the WW II era, then I strongly recommend this novel!
Authors Leon Cooper and Don Tait have done an excellent job in blending Cooper's military time, home life, and even his childhood days into a riveting story for readers. An outstanding piece of work! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
It Aint Neccessarily So
4 Aug 2003
Format:Paperback
... it's a good read, especially for denizens of a Navy town and also for those who, after seeing the movie, enjoy boasting that they read the book.
The book purports to be the Cooper's autobiography covering the period starting with his senior year at the University of Illinois just before Pearl Harbor, continuing through his Navy service as a landing craft officer in the Pacific during World War II, and examining with especial vigor how the psychological trauma of this experience affected his post-war life.
Why do I say "purports" ? Well, a part of the reason is that I have insights gained from talking with Cooper's sister. These insights cast doubt on the truthfulness or accuracy of some of the incidents reported - having an engineering degree - meeting future bride Alberta in D.C. - having pre-marital sex with her - attacking the Admiral Boda's Buick in downtown Washington - talking his way aboard the Potomac (President Truman's yacht) armed and intending to kill this same admiral - the pickup scene in Hollywood. When questioned by his sister about some of these discrepancies, Cooper reportedly waved his arm and claimed "poetic license."
However, I believe it is more than poetic license. This is a book that screams out "Make me into a movie!" Witness co-author, Don Tait. This is not an "as told to" co-author. No, this is an experienced TV and movie writer (Maverick, Bonanza, Mr. Roberts) who has been brought in to enhance and perhaps concoct scenes that will sell the book as a movie. When is the last time you saw a movie without a sex scene?
Yes, but even the best movie biopics (a film or television biography) often have fictionalized, exaggerated, or time-disordered episodes - Patch Adams - for example. What remains is a basic core of truth. In this case that core is that sometimes malign tyrants cum martinets are placed in command of men and ships, that this error leads to unnecessary deaths and long-term, post-war psychological problems for the surviving subordinates. And the Navy looks the other way and brushes all this [stuff] under the rug. I'm sorry to be so blunt. Read the book, and judge for yourselves.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Truth Still Matters
25 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback
In Steven C. Barber's film "Return to Tarawa," which features Leon Cooper's role in the Battle of Tarawa, Mr. Cooper is portrayed as a heroic character who ferried Marines into Tarawa and wounded guys out throughout the 3-day battle in November of 1943. Cooper has said publicly many times he "closed the eyes of the dead" and buried "scores" of his fellow countrymen in the days following the battle.
Unfortunately, in Cooper's own 2003 book, 90 Day Wonder: Darkness Remembered, which has been widely marketed and reviewed as "true to life" (i.e., a nonfiction memoir), he tells a different tale. In the book version Cooper's Higgins boat was hit and he was returned to a ship and cleared for duty by a Navy doctor. Cooper then ordered a coxswain to bring him to a strip of land far away from the battle for about a week, by which time the fighting and follow-up actions had ended. He'd missed the battle almost entirely and never set foot on Betio, the islet where the fighting took place.
Both accounts cannot be true. If audiences accept the film version then Cooper's own autobiography is a fabrication. That means Cooper knowingly duped readers and allowed them to think it was true. The book conveniently lacks a label as "fiction," "nonfiction," "history," etc., yet reviews on the author's own website clearly indicate that readers view the book as truly an account of the author's life. Mr. Cooper proudly features these reviews to market the book, further promoting the book as a true account. But on the other hand, if audiences accept the book version as fact, then the Barber film cannot possibly be accurate or considered a true documentary. The film then becomes the fabrication.
As we know from recent controversies in the publishing world (e.g., James Frey and the falsehoods of his memoir "A Million Little Pieces"), fiction sold as truth is unacceptable and destroys an author's credibility. If Mr. Cooper's memoir is one such fiction, then his claims in the film, and the many interviews available online with the likes of Katie Couric, Larry King, and others, are impossible to believe.
Unfortunately, in Cooper's own 2003 book, 90 Day Wonder: Darkness Remembered, which has been widely marketed and reviewed as "true to life" (i.e., a nonfiction memoir), he tells a different tale. In the book version Cooper's Higgins boat was hit and he was returned to a ship and cleared for duty by a Navy doctor. Cooper then ordered a coxswain to bring him to a strip of land far away from the battle for about a week, by which time the fighting and follow-up actions had ended. He'd missed the battle almost entirely and never set foot on Betio, the islet where the fighting took place.
Both accounts cannot be true. If audiences accept the film version then Cooper's own autobiography is a fabrication. That means Cooper knowingly duped readers and allowed them to think it was true. The book conveniently lacks a label as "fiction," "nonfiction," "history," etc., yet reviews on the author's own website clearly indicate that readers view the book as truly an account of the author's life. Mr. Cooper proudly features these reviews to market the book, further promoting the book as a true account. But on the other hand, if audiences accept the book version as fact, then the Barber film cannot possibly be accurate or considered a true documentary. The film then becomes the fabrication.
As we know from recent controversies in the publishing world (e.g., James Frey and the falsehoods of his memoir "A Million Little Pieces"), fiction sold as truth is unacceptable and destroys an author's credibility. If Mr. Cooper's memoir is one such fiction, then his claims in the film, and the many interviews available online with the likes of Katie Couric, Larry King, and others, are impossible to believe.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Thank you for writing and for your service to our country
25 May 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
My Dad was a 90 Day Wonder. I read the book to find out more about what he went through and as a tribute to him and his fellow Naval officers. My Dad passed on 02/27/2007; I believe he would have enjoyed reading your book as well.
Thank you again and God Bless you always
Thank you again and God Bless you always
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