Left for Dead at Nijmegen: The True Story of an American Paratrooper in World War II

On the one hand, the author of Gene Metcalfe’s story has a relatively easy job of merely staying out of the way and letting the story tell itself. On the other, Nammini delivers where another biographer might clutter this modern-day Canidide with complications. Intertwined with the experiences of this paratrooper left for dead behind enemy lines, captured as a prisoner of war only to escape and be recaptured, the reader finds threads of entertainment. Never aspiring to take himself too seriously, the straightforward manner of chronicling matches the temperament of one of America’s unsung heroes. Nannini’s writing style captures just enough of the tension of war without adding to it, thus allowing the lighthearted moments to shine through in the cartoon characters Metcalfe sketches.

Some savvy screenplay writer will inevitably snag the rights to this one. The comic relief is already built into the suspense-driven plot. The story is just the right size for a movie in an industry struggling to break-away from comic book heroes into the genuine article.