For the nurses who served in the chaos that was Vietnam, “don’t mean nothing” became a mantra, a feigned indifference, the irony of the helpless. Powerful, provocative, and often wonderfully funny, each of these tales offers a new and profound understanding of how this war changed so many lives. In “One Positive Thing” a nurse plans to end her pregnancy after her brief affair with a surgeon - but a chance meeting makes her reconsider. “Broken Stone” is an astute look at the relinquishing of faith and the sacredness of sex. And the tremendously touching “Butch” is a story of love, loss, and the unexpected casualties of war.

A moving contribution to the literature of Vietnam that will bring to mind the fiction of Tim O’Brien and Robert Olen Butler, DON’T MEAN NOTHING is eye-opening and unforgettable. It is a book whose time has come.