The Vietnam War still has the power to divide Americans between those for and against it -- and just as surely, between those who remember the era firsthand and those not yet born when the troops returned home. There may be no better bridge across those twin divisions than Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. He discusses the seminal account of a fictional platoon on a battlefield without a front, dodging sniper fire and the soldiers’ own misgivings.

This event is a featured program of the fall 2017 Big Read KC. For more related programs at the Kansas City Public Library, visit kclibrary.org/bigread.