Going After Cacciato Journal Topics

1. Pick a quote from “How to Tell a True War Story” and respond to it in terms of Going After Cacciato.

2. The book illustrates the “intersection of public events and private lives.” Has there been a public event in your lifetime that impacted your personal life? How did you, or will you, deal with it?

3. Going After Cacciato has been called a work of the "surreal.” What is the impact of this stylistic approach on the story and the reader?


Topics for discussion

1. Look at the order—they things are presented. We have three different kinds of chapter—how do they relate or correct. Look for patterns and connections.

2. How do people die? Which parts of the book seem most “real”? Why?

3. Cities—symbols for ideas? Why is going to Paris important, as opposed to going to London or Vienna or Rio de Janeiro?

4. What is this book about? Why set it in the Vietnam War? Is it a war book? An anti-war book?

5. Don’t forget style, which is easy to do because the narrative is so captivating. What kind of allusions does he use? Symbols?