Falling Through the Earth

 

 

From her charismatic father, Danielle Trussoni learned how to rock and roll, outrun the police, and never shy away from a fight. Spending hour upon hour trailing him around the bars and honky-tonks of La Crosse, Wisconsin, young Danielle grew up fascinated by stories of her dad's adventures as a tunnel rat in Vietnam, where he'd risked his life crawling head first into narrow passageways to search for American POWs.
 
A vivid and poignant portrait of a daughter's relationship with her father, this funny, heartbreaking, and beautifully written memoir "makes plain that the horror of war doesn't end in the trenches" (Vanity Fair).

"The affection, respect, and humor [Danielle Trussoni] brings to the task of revealing this complicated individual [her father] is testimony both to her creative abilities and to the generosity of her spirit."--The New York Times Book Review
 
"Vivid and engrossing . . . a wonderfully complex and penetrating book. This is an accomplished debut from a writer with many talents."--Chicago Tribune
 
"A richly textured history and timely reminder that a war's victims aren't limited to those in uniform nor demarcated by geography."--Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead
 
"A heartbreaking story of missed connections . . . this excellent memoir is much more than the sum of its parts."--People (four stars)

 

Danielle Trussoni grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.