A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam 📖

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

Sheehan, Neil
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historical fiction war memoir past tense third limited POV ~1,500 pp

Vibe

bleak gritty reflective

A dark historical fiction. Expect minimal worldbuilding, dense, literary prose, epic scope. Contains notable violence.

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Style Fingerprint

Prose density 75
sparsedense
Pacing 40
slow burnpropulsive
Emotional tone 20
darkhopeful
Worldbuilding 10
minimalmaximal
Char / plot 60
character-drivenplot-driven
Interiority 50
externalintrospective
Ending 30
unresolvedcathartic
Stakes 85
intimateepic

Content

Violence 95%
noneextreme
Sexual content 45%
noneexplicit
Humor 10%
seriouscomedic
Romance 30%
nonecentral

Structure & Cast

Structure
Word count374,918
Page count~1,500 pp
Prologue—
Epilogue—
Tensepast
Cast & World
POVthird limited