Soldiers in Hiding; A Novel

Boston: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Gigi Wiley (Author photograph). [6], 199 Pages. Author sentiment. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page. Inscription reads For Norman--with memories of Peace Corps Richard Wiley. Thirty years after World War II, Japanese-American jazz musician Teddy Maki is still haunted by his friend Jimmy Yamamoto's wartime death and his own failure to disobey a commanding officer's order to shoot an American prisoner. Richard Wiley (born November 19, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer whose first novel, Soldiers in Hiding won the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He spent two years in Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer. He has published five other novels and a number of short stories. Wiley holds a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound and an M.A. from Sophia University in Tokyo; he earned his MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he studied under John Irving. Since 1989 he has been a professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Wiley is professor emeritus of English and a board member of Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Wiley was a member of the UNLV English Department faculty from 1989 to 2015 and cofounded UNLV's graduate Creative Writing Program. He was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2005.
Works Soldiers in Hiding is the first novel by Richard Wiley. It received the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. It begins in Tokyo in 1941, when Teddy Maki and Jimmy Yamamoto, two young Japanese-American jazz musicians, are stranded in Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, drafted into the Japanese army and sent to the Philippines, the scene of bloody conflict with guerrillas and American troops. Rather than act as true soldiers, the two young men attempt to disengage themselves from the savagery of a war in which they are unable to choose sides. But such innocence is impossible to maintain. Thirty years later, Teddy Maki, by then a star of Japanese television, is still haunted by Jimmy's death and his own failure to disobey the order of his commanding officer to shoot an American prisoner. The guilt that poisons his relationship with his wife and son and with the country in which he has chosen to live as a perpetual outsider speaks to the moral issues raised by all wars. Derived from a Publishers Weekly article: Japanese-American jazz musician Teddy Maki, now a star on Japanese TV, has been carrying a heavy burden of guilt since World War II. He and a fellow musician, Jimmy Yamamoto, had been trapped in Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and forced to join the Japanese army, although they were still loyal to America. Jimmy had been killed by ruthless Major Nakamura for refusing to shoot an American prisoner, and Teddy had then carried out the very command his friend had died defying. He has never been able to confide these details to his wife or son, because she was Jimmy's widow and their son is actually Jimmy's child. A chance sighting of the major offers Teddy the prospect of revenge and redemption, but it seems the major has likewise been waiting all these years for a similar encounter. Wiley's first novel is a work of exceptional power and imagination, especially in his portrayal of his protagonist's "listless remorse'' and cross-cultural alienation. Wiley's debut is an auspicious one.