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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 A Strong Ambitious Novel Jul 09, 2007
By Alexander Lerman
Jim Gabbe's novel is a complex narrative describing the hopes, confusion, and suffering of a group of friends coming of age at the time of the Viet Nam war. Though the trauma of combat plagues Gabbe's vet protagonist, the real "enemy" lies in the existential difficulties Gabbe's characters confront. While the protagonist heals himself through work, love, and art; others of the group are not so fortunate.
Gabbe's work represents a powerful effort to break through the stereotypes of 'hippies', 'vets', or 'straights' that have come to cloud our collective memory of those tumultuous years when society itself appeared to be disintegrating; a time during which so many of us found ourselves confronting our own demons after sterotypic enemy of "the establishment" had been defied.
Gabbe's novel recalls Robert Stone's early work, such as Dog Soldiers. While Stone's characters descended into violence and narcotics, however, Gabbe's are searching for answers, and occasionally finding them together before they are torn apart again. Despite the grim outcome for some, there is an underlying spirit of enterprise and optimism; although Gabbe's characters are rebels, there is something quintessentially American about them, and about the courageous, resilient, at times sprawling novel in which they reside.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A VietNam-Era Story Still So Relevant Today Sep 25, 2007
By Janice Davis
"travelin' mom"
James Gabbe has taken a theme (coming of age in the VietNam era) that we've all heard many variations on and made it new, real and touching. The device of moving back and forth in a timeline between two stories: that of the characters in their idealistic youth, and that of their later more complicated selves, is very successful. I was drawn in from the first page and didn't put it down till I reached the very believeable (and very satisfying) end. A great read just for it's compelling story, this book has added poignancy today as we as a country once again face the toll that a controversial war is taking on American youth.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A story of love, trust and devotion Aug 30, 2007
By Nancy Causey
Jim Gabbe's first novel is a wonderfully colorful narrative about a conflicted young soldier on the brink of manhood during a defining moment in both his and his country's history.
Set in the politically volatile Viet Nam era, Jesse Danbar, the novel's protagonist, moves from idealist to realist, and finally to activist in this emotional story. Love, both romantic and platonic, and the devotion and trust that love implies, are at the core of all Danbar's relationships. It is this love that keeps a damaged soul on track and, in the end, helps to save him. Because the book evolves as a narrative within a narrative, and there are multiple characters being developed, it takes several chapters for the parts to fall into place. When they do, the story takes off as Danbar finds his voice and ultimately his soul.
This novel invites each of us to ponder our own ideals and perhaps face personal questions with a new activism. When backed against a wall - what would you do?
Highly recommended.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
LaRue's Maneuvers: A Richly Rewarding Read Aug 03, 2007
By Randolph S. Young
""Randy""
This first novel by Jim Gabbe is a richly rewarding read for anyone who grew up during the tumultuous era of the Vietnam War and the societal convulsions of the 1960s. Who among us doesn't see pieces of themselves in Jesse Danbar, a.k.a. LaRue, the novel's protagonist, who walks a tortured path from youthful naivete to near-ruinous darkness and self-pity to enlightenment and self-discovery. "Life is a riddle wrapped in an enigma," muses LaRue, and by the end of this ambitious story we have a better idea why.
LaRue's Maneuvers is a coming of age story which ropes us in emotionally and never puts us down. LaRue becomes a foot solider in war he abhors, and the chilling images he conveys of a conflict that is both depraved and grotesque are as poignant today as they were back then. But the book's panoramic sweep goes well beyond Vietnam. We come face-to-face with the fragility of life, and why some individuals like LaRue are able to survive against all odds while others, like his close friend Tim McShane, succumb.
That conundrum is at the heart of this searching novel. In the end, LaRue comes to grips with a simple truth: no individual can save the world, or even his own soul, but "you have to dream and hope and love and try no matter what." LaRue indeed tries, and his cathartic journey - as brashly told by Gabbe - is what ultimately saves his life
Attempting to Outmaneuver the Consequences of War Nov 07, 2008
By Glenn Litton
In the aftermath of a disastrous tour of duty in Vietnam, the protagonist of James Gabbe's "LaRue's Maneuvers" struggles for redemption. Jesse Danbars tries to repair the damage to his spirit by writing a fictionalized account of his coming of age. LaRue, Jesse's literary stand-in, is a sub-species of the Vietnam era: a well-educated, privileged twenty-something whose innocence, aimlessness, and ignorance soon betray him to forces over which he has no control.
LaRue/Jesse finds himself a pawn in the cataclysmic misadventures of the Vietnam War. Alienated by both the absurdities of military life and the mysteries of Vietnamese culture, he struggles to become not just a man but also his own man.
In "LaRue's Maneuvers" Gabbe fashions a sophisticated tale-within-a-tale that allows him to manipulate gracefully time and space. The most harrowing chapters of his novel take place in Vietnam, where love proves as treacherous as the Viet Cong, and where, just as LaRue's cynicism about heroism begins to wane, he witnesses brutality so inexplicable that the only response is to deny any capacity for human nobility.
And yet, Gabbe wants his readers to believe that LaRue/Jesse, thanks to the generous spirit of his friends and the love of a good woman, regains his equilibrium and, more importantly, his resistance to despair. There's enough tragic loss in his story to cast a very deep shadow on a miraculous recovery.
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