Philip Caputo: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American author and journalist}}

Philip Caputo is is the author of "A Rumor of War," a memoir of his personal experiences in [[Vietnam]].

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| name = Philip Caputo

| image = Caputo.Phil_7947.jpg

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|6|10}}

| birth_place = [[Westchester, Illinois]], U.S.

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| education = [[Loyola University Chicago]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])

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| occupation = Author, journalist

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| website = {{URL|http://www.philipcaputo.com}}

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'''Philip Caputo''' (born June 10, 1941) is an American author and journalist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-10 |title=Happy Birthday To Norwalk's Philip Caputo |url=https://dailyvoice.com/connecticut/norwalk/neighbors/happy-birthday-to-norwalks-philip-caputo/452666/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Norwalk Daily Voice |language=en}}</ref> He is best known for ''[[A Rumor of War (book)|A Rumor of War]]'' (1977), a best-selling memoir of his experiences during the [[Vietnam War]]. Caputo has written 18 books, including three memoirs, five books of general nonfiction, nine novels, and one book of short stories. His latest is the novel ''Memory and Desire'' which was published in 2023 by [[Skyhorse Publishing|Arcade Publishing]].

In 1965, Caputo, then a lieutenant in the [[U.S. Marine Corps]], deployed to South Vietnam. He returned to the states in 1966.

==Early life and career==

After three years in the Corps, Caputo began a career in journalism, joining the staff of [[The Chicago Tribune]].

Philip Caputo was born in [[Westchester, Illinois]], a suburb of [[Chicago]], and raised in [[Berwyn, Illinois|Berwyn]] and [[Westchester, Illinois|Westchester]]. He attended [[Fenwick High School (Oak Park, Illinois)|Fenwick High School]] and [[Loyola University Chicago]], graduating with a B.A. in English in 1964. From 1965–1966 Caputo served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) as an infantry lieutenant (platoon commander) in the [[United States Marine Corps]]. Caputo served in combat and earned several medals and awards upon completion of his tour of duty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caputo |first=Philip |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/957021208 |title=A rumor of war |date=August 2017 |publisher=Picador |isbn=978-1-250-11712-0 |oclc=957021208}}</ref>

Caputo returned to Vietnam as a foreign correspondent for the Tribune. He covered the fall of Saigon in 1975, and he served in Italy, The Soviet Union, and the Middle East.

After serving three years in the Corps, Caputo began a career in journalism, joining the staff of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' in 1968. In 1973, Caputo was part of a writing team that won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for reporting on election fraud in Chicago. For the next five years, he was a foreign correspondent for the ''Tribune.'' He covered the [[fall of Saigon]] in 1975, and he worked in Italy, the [[Soviet Union]] and the Middle East.<ref name="philipcaputo1">{{cite web|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/about/|title=About Phil|work=Philip Caputo|date=October 9, 2012 }}</ref> In 1975, he was shot and wounded in the ankle by a militiaman with an [[AK-47]] during the [[Battle of the Hotels]] in [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-save-lives-shrink-gun-magazines/2013/01/15/2636c1c2-5b7b-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html|title=To save lives, shrink gun magazines|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://middleeast.about.com/b/2011/06/26/beiruts-st-georges-hotel-still-trying-to-slay-dragons.htm|title=Middle East: Beirut's St. Georges Hotel, Still Trying to Slay Dragons|author=Pierre Tristam|work=About.com|date=26 June 2011|access-date=January 16, 2013|archive-date=December 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213183015/http://middleeast.about.com/b/2011/06/26/beiruts-st-georges-hotel-still-trying-to-slay-dragons.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1972, Caputo was part of a writing team that won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on election fraud in Chicago.

==Books and articles==

Philip Caputo's memoir of Vietnam, ''[[A Rumor of War (book)|A Rumor of War]]'' (1977), has been published in 15 languages, and has sold two million copies since its first publication. It is widely regarded as a classic in the literature of war. The book was adapted as a 1980 [[A Rumor of War (miniseries)|two-part TV movie]] of the same name, starring [[Brad Davis (actor)|Brad Davis]], [[Keith Carradine]], [[Brian Dennehy]], and [[Michael O'Keefe]]. A Fortieth Anniversary Edition of ''A Rumor of War'' was published in summer 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/books-all/a-rumor-of-war/|title=A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo|newspaper=Philip Caputo|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-14}}</ref>

''[https://www.philipcaputo.com/books-all/memory-and-desire/ Memory and Desire]'' (2023), Caputo’s 18th book, is a novel set in south Florida about love and the persistence of love, about desire and desire remembered, and the reunion of a fifty-year-old man with a son he fathered out of wedlock in his youth.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.patagoniapubliclibrary.org/event/meet-the-author-phillip-caputo/|title=Meet the Author}}</ref>

In addition to books, Caputo has published dozens of major magazine articles, reviews, and op-ed pieces in publications ranging from ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', and ''[[The Washington Post]]'' to ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'', ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'', and the ''[[Virginia Quarterly Review]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/articles/|title=Selected Articles|work=Philip Caputo|date=October 9, 2012 }}</ref>

==Lecturing and television==

Caputo has lectured at approximately 20 universities and prep schools around the country, and has been a featured speaker for the National Book Committee, the [[American Library Association]], and the [[American Publishers Association]]. He has participated in the [[Key West Literary Seminar]], Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, [[Chicago Humanities Festival]], and the [[Cheltenham Literary Festival]] in Cheltenham, England.

He has also worked as a screenwriter for [[Paramount Pictures]] and Michael Douglas Productions. Caputo has been a guest on the ''[[Charlie Rose (TV show)|Charlie Rose Show]]'' and the ''Today Show.'' He has narrated or appeared in several TV documentaries on the [[Vietnam War]], the [[Cold War]], and other subjects.<ref name="philipcaputo1"/>

==Bibliography==

{{Expand list|date=May 2020}}

===Fiction===

* {{cite book <!--|author=Caputo, Philip --> |title=Horn of Africa |year=1980 <!--isbn=-->}}

* ''Delcorso's Gallery'' (1983)

* ''Indian Country'' (1987)

* ''Equation for Evil'' (1996)

* ''Exiles'' (1997)

* ''The Voyage'' (1999)

* ''Acts of Faith'' (2005) {{ISBN|0375411666}}

* ''Crossers'' (2009)

* ''Some Rise by Sin'' (2017) {{ISBN|978-1627794749}}

* ''Hunter's Moon'' (2019) {{ISBN|9781627794763}}

* ''Memory and Desire'' (2023) {{ISBN|9781956763812}}

===Nonfiction===

* ''Ghosts of Tsavo'' (2002)

* ''In the Shadows of the Morning'' (2002)

* ''13 Seconds: A Look Back At the Kent State Shootings'' (2005) {{ISBN|1596090804}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caputo |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJvuAAAAMAAJ |title=13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings |date=2005 |publisher=Chamberlain Bros. |isbn=978-1-59609-080-4 |language=en}}</ref>

* ''Ten Thousand Days of Thunder'' (2005)

* {{cite journal <!--|author=Caputo, Philip |author-mask=1 -->|date=December 2009 |title=The border of madness |journal=The Atlantic |volume=304 |issue=5 |pages=62–69 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-fall-of-mexico/307760/ <!--accessdate=2020-05-13-->}}<ref>Online version is titled "The fall of Mexico".</ref>

;Memoir

* ''A Rumor of War'' (1977) {{ISBN|003017631X}} {{OCLC|2974701}}

* ''Means of Escape<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/books-all/|title=All Books|work=Philip Caputo|date=September 7, 2016 }}</ref>'' (1991) {{ISBN|0060183128}} {{OCLC|23732376}}

* ''The Longest Road'' (2013) {{ISBN|978-1250048745}}

==Filmography==

*''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081443/ A Rumor of War: Miniseries]''

*''[[The Vietnam War (TV series)|The Vietnam War]]''

==References==

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==

*[https://www.PhilipCaputo.com/ Philip Caputo official website], including article and book links, reviews, interviews, FAQs

*Philip Caputo's papers at [http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/archives-cc/app/details.php?id=7527&return=http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/archives-cc/app/browse.php?letter=C/ Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121026003815/http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/861 Interview of Philip Caputo] by [[Charlie Rose]] (2005)

*[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/books/review/Vollmann-t.html?ref=books Review] of ''Crossers'' by [[William T. Vollmann]]

*[http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2005-06-10-philipCaputo.jsp Interview] on ''Acts of Faith'' at the [[Pritzker Military Library]]

*{{C-SPAN|1014418}}

*[https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/items/show/861 Interview with Philip Caputo] by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, December 12, 2009

* {{IMDb name|id=0135782|name=Philip Caputo}}

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[[Category:1941 births]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]

[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]

[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]

[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]

[[Category:American male journalists]]

[[Category:American male novelists]]

[[Category:American memoirists]]

[[Category:American military writers]]

[[Category:American travel writers]]

[[Category:The Atlantic (magazine) people]]

[[Category:Loyola University Chicago alumni]]

[[Category:People from Berwyn, Illinois]]

[[Category:People from Westchester, Illinois]]

[[Category:United States Marine Corps officers]]

[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War]]

[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]

[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]

[[Category:Military personnel from Illinois]]