Philip Caputo (born June 10, 1941) is an American author and journalist. He is best known for ''

A Rumor of War A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'' (1977), a best-selling memoir of his experiences during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Caputo has written 16 books, including two memoirs, five books of general nonfiction, and eight novels. His latest is the novel "Hunter's Moon" which was published in 2019 by Henry Holt.

Early life and career

Philip Caputo was born in

Westchester, Illinois Westchester is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,892 at the 2020 census. The current Village President is Nick Steker, serving in the special role of acting president after ...

, a suburb of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and raised in Berwyn and Westchester. He attended Fenwick High School and

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1964. From 1965–1966 Caputo served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) as an infantry lieutenant (platoon commander) in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. Caputo served in combat and earned several medals and awards upon completion of his tour of duty. After serving three years in the Corps, Caputo began a career in journalism, joining the staff of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' in 1968. In 1973, Caputo was part of a writing team that won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for reporting on election fraud in Chicago. For the next five years, he was a foreign correspondent for the ''Tribune.'' He covered the

fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...

in 1975, and he worked in Italy, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the Middle East. In 1975, he was shot and wounded in the ankle by a militiaman with an

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

during the

Battle of the Hotels The Battle of the Hotels ( ar, معركة الفنادق, ''Maʿrakah al-Fanādiq,'' French: Front des Hotels), was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downto ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Books and articles

Philip Caputo's memoir of Vietnam, ''

'' (1977), has been published in 15 languages, and has sold two million copies since its first publication. It is widely regarded as a classic in the literature of war. The book was adapted as a 1980 two-part TV movie of the same name, starring Brad Davis,

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in ...

, and

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in ''Caddyshack'', Ben Meechum in ''The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...

. A Fortieth Anniversary Edition of ''A Rumor of War'' was scheduled for summer 2017. In 2013 he published a travel/adventure memoir
The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America From Key West to the Arctic Ocean
''
Some Rise By Sin
' (2017), his 16th book, is a novel about an American missionary priest struggling to save his Mexican parish from the ravages of a drug cartel. In addition to books, Caputo has published dozens of major magazine articles, reviews, and op-ed pieces in publications ranging from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' to ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', and the ''

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion"'' ...

''.

Lecturing and television

Caputo has lectured at approximately 20 universities and prep schools around the country, and has been a featured speaker for the

National Book Committee National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

, and the

American Publishers Association American Publishers Association (APA) was created in 1901 to maintain the price of copyright books in the American market. In 1913, the New York Supreme court ruled in favor of R. H Macy's & Co. vs American Publishers Association, saying Macy's ...

. He has participated in the

Key West Literary Seminar The Key West Literary Seminar is a writers' conference and festival held each January in Key West, Florida. It draws an international audience for readings, panel discussions, and workshops. History The Seminar was founded in 1983 by David Kaufe ...

, Tennessee Williams Literary Festival,

Chicago Humanities Festival The Chicago Humanities Festival is a non-profit organization which hosts an annual series of lectures, concerts, and films in Chicago. There are two seasons each year, including a spring festival from April through May, and a longer fall festival ...

, and the

Cheltenham Literary Festival ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for t ...

in Cheltenham, England. He has also worked as a screenwriter for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and Michael Douglas Productions. Caputo has been a guest on the ''

Charlie Rose Show ''Charlie Rose'' (also known as ''The Charlie Rose Show'') is an American television interview and talk show, with Charlie Rose as executive producer, executive editor, and host. The show was syndicated on PBS from 1991 until 2017 and is owned b ...

'' and the ''Today Show.'' He has narrated or appeared in several TV documentaries on the

, the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, and other subjects.

Bibliography

Fiction

* * ''Delcorso's Gallery'' (1983) * ''Indian Country'' (1987) * ''Equation for Evil'' (1996) * ''Exiles'' (1997) * ''The Voyage'' (1999) * ''Acts of Faith'' (2005) * ''Crossers'' (2009) * ''Some Rise by Sin (2017)'' * ''Hunter's Moon'' (2019)

Non–fiction

* ''Ghosts of Tsavo'' (2002) * ''In the Shadows of the Morning'' (2002) * ''13 Seconds: A Look Back At the Kent State Shootings'' (2005) * ''Ten Thousand Days of Thunder'' (2005) * ;Memoir * ''A Rumor of War'' (1977) * ''Means of Escape'' (1991) * ''The Longest Road'' (2013)

Filmography

*
A Rumor of War: Miniseries
' *''

The Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

References

External links

Philip Caputo official website
including article and book links, reviews, interviews, FAQs *Philip Caputo's papers a
Howard Gotlieb Archival Research CenterInterview of Philip Caputo
by

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co-an ...

(2005)
Review
of ''Crossers'' by

William T. Vollmann William Tanner Vollmann (born July 28, 1959) is an American novelist, journalist, war correspondent, short story writer, and essayist. He won the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction with the novel ''Europe Central''.

Interview
on ''Acts of Faith'' at the

Pritzker Military Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

*
with Philip Caputo
by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, December 12, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Philip 1941 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American male journalists American male novelists American memoirists American military writers American travel writers The Atlantic (magazine) people Loyola University Chicago alumni People from Berwyn, Illinois People from Westchester, Illinois United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Military personnel from Illinois