THE HERO Versus Me & Monkey Jo

THE HERO Versus Me & Monkey Jo chronicles the adventures of Henry Neis who arrives in Vietnam an innocent youth from Kansas, and quickly falls in with addicts and lost souls. Perry Shepard’s prose pulls us into the “scene” immediately, and propels us on a journey that is at times exhilarating, shocking, funny, and moving. A rollicking read and an eye-opening look at the Vietnam War.

Henry Neis, fresh out of high school from Kansas, is drafted and sent to Vietnam. Trained as a helicopter mechanic, he is promptly assigned to a personnel unit, a fitting introduction to the insanity of this war that makes no sense to him. Henry falls in with the company misfits and drug users, becoming an addict and dealer himself, yet his fundamental innocence shines through to the final page. Henry’s account of his year “in country” is, by turn, fascinating, hilarious, terrifying, wondrous, enlightening, and confusing—sometimes all at once. I couldn’t put it down, and when I got to the end I only wished there were more.”
~ John Bodle

Perry L. Shepard is a Vietnam veteran who has written two novels: The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo, and Hard Love. He co-wrote two plays in the anthology titled Annabelle. He won a second place award in the Eber and Wein’s Best American Poetry of 2013, an honorable mention in Writer’s Digest’ 84th annual Poetry Competition. He has been published in newspapers, college poetry collections and fanzines; He was a board member of (SMAG) South Mass Art Guild in Lawrence Kansas, and is the Vice President of the Kansas Author’s Club District No. 2. you can reach Perry at: www.perryshepard.com.