Last Detail - Softcover
The Acclaimed Novel That Was the Basis for the Classic Movie Starring Jack Nicholson
Unlike other branches of the armed services, the Navy draws it police force from the ranks, as temporary duty called Shore Patrol. In this funny, bawdy, moving novel set during the height of the Vietnam War, two career sailors in transit in Norfolk, Virginia—Billy "Bad-Ass" Buddusky and Mule Mulhall—are assigned to escort eighteen-year-old Larry Meadows from Norfolk to the brig in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he is to serve an eight-year sentence for petty theft. It's good duty, until the two old salts realize the injustice of the sentence and are oddly affected by the naive innocence of their young prisoner.
In the five days allotted for the detail, they decide to show Meadows something of the life he doesn't yet know, to help him survive the long ordeal ahead and to purge their own shame. What follows is an unlikely road trip by bus and train up the Eastern seaboard and an indelible journey of initiation and discovery, filled with beer-soaked wisdom, big city lights, revelry, brawls, debauchery, love, and surprising moments of tenderness.
Unlike other branches of the armed services, the Navy draws it police force from the ranks, as temporary duty called Shore Patrol. In this funny, bawdy, moving novel set during the height of the Vietnam War, two career sailors in transit in Norfolk, Virginia—Billy "Bad-Ass" Buddusky and Mule Mulhall—are assigned to escort eighteen-year-old Larry Meadows from Norfolk to the brig in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he is to serve an eight-year sentence for petty theft. It's good duty, until the two old salts realize the injustice of the sentence and are oddly affected by the naive innocence of their young prisoner.
In the five days allotted for the detail, they decide to show Meadows something of the life he doesn't yet know, to help him survive the long ordeal ahead and to purge their own shame. What follows is an unlikely road trip by bus and train up the Eastern seaboard and an indelible journey of initiation and discovery, filled with beer-soaked wisdom, big city lights, revelry, brawls, debauchery, love, and surprising moments of tenderness.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Darryl Ponicsán is the author of thirteen novels and an award-winning screenwriter for both film and television. Born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, he taught high school after attending Muhlenberg College and earning an MA at Cornell University. He served in the US Navy from 1962 to 1965, then did social work in the Watts area of Los Angeles and taught high school before the success of his debut novel, The Last Detail, allowed him to become a full-time writer. His latest novel is Last Flag Flying, the sequel to the first. He resides in Palm Springs and Sonoma, California.
Review:
"One of the ten best novels of the year." —Philadelphia Inquirer
"Salty, bawdy, hilarious, and very touching." —Variety
"Honest, heart-wrenching . . . Keeps his serio-comic escapade snowballing until the very end." —The New York Times
"The writing is superb, the pace headlong, the irony tempered with curious gentleness." —Cosmopolitan
"A lean, funny, bitter book." —Boston Globe
"Will make servicemen say: 'sure, that's the way it is." —Newsday
"First novels tend to be flawed some place, but Darryl Ponicsan's is the exception." —Sacramento Bee
"An accomplished writer with a sure storyteller's touch." —St. Louis Post Dispatch
"[A] gem of a first novel . . . Fast-paced . . . [the] dialogue is often hilarious." —Fort Worth Star
"A well-spun yarn that runs the gamut of emotions in anything but an ordinary story." —Fresno Bee
"So deeply human that the reader is apt to believe . . . that he is actually witnessing the events." —San Raphael Independence Journal
"Ponicsan in his first appearance proves himself not only a master but a model of dialogue." —San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle
"[An] excellent first novel . . . Wonderful dialogue." —Publishers Weekly
"The characters are uneducated, tough, uncultured career sailors, but their warmth and affection come through, and readers become really involved with them—the innocent victims . . . of a heartless society. This book is sure to be a success." —Library Journal
"Salty, bawdy, hilarious, and very touching." —Variety
"Honest, heart-wrenching . . . Keeps his serio-comic escapade snowballing until the very end." —The New York Times
"The writing is superb, the pace headlong, the irony tempered with curious gentleness." —Cosmopolitan
"A lean, funny, bitter book." —Boston Globe
"Will make servicemen say: 'sure, that's the way it is." —Newsday
"First novels tend to be flawed some place, but Darryl Ponicsan's is the exception." —Sacramento Bee
"An accomplished writer with a sure storyteller's touch." —St. Louis Post Dispatch
"[A] gem of a first novel . . . Fast-paced . . . [the] dialogue is often hilarious." —Fort Worth Star
"A well-spun yarn that runs the gamut of emotions in anything but an ordinary story." —Fresno Bee
"So deeply human that the reader is apt to believe . . . that he is actually witnessing the events." —San Raphael Independence Journal
"Ponicsan in his first appearance proves himself not only a master but a model of dialogue." —San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle
"[An] excellent first novel . . . Wonderful dialogue." —Publishers Weekly
"The characters are uneducated, tough, uncultured career sailors, but their warmth and affection come through, and readers become really involved with them—the innocent victims . . . of a heartless society. This book is sure to be a success." —Library Journal
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherSphere
- Publication date1973
- ISBN 10 0722169337
- ISBN 13 9780722169339
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages160
- Rating
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
The Last Detail: A Novel
Published by
Sphere, London
(1973)
ISBN 10: 0722169337
ISBN 13: 9780722169339
Used
Soft Cover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: Very Good ++. First Thus. Mass market paperback, 156 pages; very clean and unmarked unread condition, flawed only by a tiny thin sliver cut from back cover edge. PLEASE NOTE: the Stock Image provided by Abebooks next to my listing is of another edition of this book, NOT my copy in far better condition . See also our listing for Ponicsan's Cinderella Liberty (buy both and save on postage!). Seller Inventory # 041445
Buy Used
US$ 1.95
Convert currency
Stock Image
Last Detail
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.11. Seller Inventory # G0722169337I3N00
Buy Used
US$ 42.21
Convert currency