Dog Days in Saigon

By: Stephen McAllister

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Stephen McAllister was a grunt, a dog handler in Vietnam, tasked not only with fighting what was by then an unwinnable war but with rehabilitating a scout dog named Big Mike whose trauma ran even deeper than his own. 

McAllister's voice has an abundance of heart and humor, but the laughter has a catch in its throat. For all the ingenuity and camaraderie, a dark and suspenseful melody plays behind the adventures of McAllister and his unforgettable constellation of young characters, American and Vietnamese.

Plunged into an endless nightmare against their will, McAllister and his fellow soldiers must rapidly master the art of creative resistance: finding comfort in each other when they could split along countless lines of race, class, and region; standing up to the rapacious and ridiculous powers that be when blind obedience would be so much easier; and staying alive, when giving up seems like the only option.

©2019 Stephen McAllister (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Interesting characters

Good characters and interesting events well told. Reminded me of Mash with its humor and irreverence. The only reason it's a 4 is because the ending seemed rushed.

Entertaining

Good story, and good narrating, but the title is a little misleading. It is more about the pot exchange/market than the war experience with the dogs! There is some dog talk, but mostly pot talk ;)

Outstanding

I hope Mr. McAllister continues to write. This is an outstanding book. If it is his only novel, it is quite an accomplishment.

love

I absolutely love this book. It was well written and the characters are wonderfully believable. Nice job!

I couldn't put it down

An outstanding book about war. it delivers simple truths without being judgmental. Just a great book.

Disappointed in the ended

The whole book was so good, engaging, funny and exciting and the ending just ruined the whole book for me

discusting

basically a discusting book talking very negatively about the US army. save your credit for something else

no good

i thought this would be more about the dogs, but i had trouble continuing to listen as it was focused on young men's hormones and but really much of a story

just ok

The book was just ok. It was mostly about partying and pot. Sadly undermined the Vietnam war.

Should you read this book?

If all you want to hear about is the marijuana enterprise in Saigon, then this is the book for you. If you want to hear about dog handling in the jungles of Vietnam during the conflict this book has about 5-10 minutes of that, throughout the whole book, while the book was entertaining, I felt catfished by the description. The narrator did an excellent job, that’s why i gave it a 5/5 but overall i was disappointed, thus giving this book a 2 star rating overall. I’m not angry, just disappointed.