Saigon, Illinois — Paul Hoover

The story of how one man wound up fighting the Vietnam War from a Chicago hospitalYoung slacker Jim Holder wants no part of the draft, the army, or Vietnam. So he registers as a conscientious objector and gets ready for alternative service. He’s assigned to work as a unit manager at a downtown Chicago medical center, worlds apart from his rural roots. A wild assortment of patients and colleagues awaits him at Metropolitan Hospital. As Jim’s life swings from the chaos of his job to the fervor of a revolutionary moment, he balances his beliefs with the everyday business of life and death.In this richly comic novel, Paul Hoover crystallizes the strange days of the conflict in Vietnam with a memorable cast of characters.