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Goodbye Junie Moon (2012)

by June Collins(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0646582720 (ISBN13: 9780646582726)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

June Collins

review 1: This was fascinating memoir about an entertainer turned whistleblower. June Collins has written an interesting and honest account of her life. We read how a conservatively brought up girl becomes a wife, after a series of tragic losses, abandons her marriage to become a dance instructor. She eventually becomes an exotic dancer which leads her to performing in the Philippines and then makes her way to the Vietnam War where she organises entertainment for the troops. It is here that she comes up against the corruption of the mess sergeants that later leads her to testifying against them. The story is not told in a linear fashion, jumping from early times to later times which adds to the interest though I did find it a bit confusing a couple of times while she was writing ab... moreout Vietnam to work out the sequence.
review 2: This is an amazing book written by an independent-minded Aussie who ended up a dancer/entertainer and exposed corruption involving military clubs during the Vietnam War. These days I take 'bigger than life' memoirs with a large grain of salt--however, this one seems authentic. Ms. Collins addresses the mundanely ugly in her past as well as truly exciting experiences in Asia and war zones. She explains how she came to be who and where she was. When she cannot remember something, she also states that instead of creating a narrative (this only happened once). She's quite the adventurer and her story is well worth reading, both for things that happened and a different perspective of the Vietnam War. Pictures are included which I also found interesting. This all culminates in her escape from Vietnam (not a spoiler as this is at the beginning of the book) to testify before U.S. Congress. I rated this as 4 stars instead of 5 stars because this book seemed to 'just end.' Yes, she testified - mission accomplished, but I would have been interested in the impact of doing that and the results of doing that. Perhaps that's another story. less

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