"With a world full of foolishly dangerous men, what's a mother to do?... Edward was my only living child, Private Edward Marcus Gaines of the 108th Infantry, 27th Division, Company such-and-such. I had it written down in his letter. In a trench in a place in France..." - From Mother in the Trenches by Robert Olen Butler
What happens to people's lives during times of battle and strife? From the American Revolution to the ongoing war in Iraq the subject of this collection is how people cope with the dramatic shifts that come with war. Before Independence, a slave fights for freedom by taking up arms for the British; in WWI, a mother goes to the front lines to see her son; and in our time, a teenager in Oregon waits for e-mail from his father in the Middle East.
Robert Olen Butler's Mother in the Trenches
Read by Kathleen Chalfant
A desperate mother will do anything to find her son in the melee of World War I.
Tom Bissell's War Wounds
Read by Oskar Eustis
On a trip to Vietnam, a son gets closer to his traumatized Viet-vet father.
Charles Johnson's A Soldier for the Crown
Read by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
A slave fights for freedom by taking up arms with the Redcoats.
Tim O'Brien's The Tings They Carried
Read by Dylan Baker
Tim O'Brien's Vietnam classic.
Maile Meloy's Red
Read by Keith Szarabajka
An American headed for the front lines of World War II spends his last night in London with a beautiful stranger.
Benjamin Percy's Refresh, Refresh
Read by Ted Marcoux
In present-day Oregon, teenage boys wait for news from their fathers in Iraq.
Selected Shorts is an award-winning, one-hour program featuring readings of classic and new short fiction, recorded live at New York's Symphony Space. One of the most popular series on the airwaves, this unique show is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.
"One of the Best Audiobooks of 2007" - AudioFile Magazine
