Black Glasses Like Clark Kent

*WINNER OF THE GRAYWOLF PRESS NONFICTION PRIZE*

According to the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), World War II veterans were expected to “put [their memories] behind them, forget the war, and get on with their lives.” Triggered by various things, including deaths of loved ones, deteriorating health, or in the case of Terese Svoboda’s uncle, the news of prison abuse at Abu Ghraib, PTSD can emerge after great expanses of time has passed. Soon after the Abu Ghraib scandal emerged in the media, Don Svoboda plunged into an uncharacteristic depression that led to his eventual suicide. Before his death, however, he furiously recorded tapes describing his duty as an MP in guarding prisoners in postwar Japan and sent them to Terese, the writer in the family.

Intrigued by her uncle’s implications of foul play at the prison, Terese Svoboda embarks on a journey to uncover the source of her uncle’s depression. She confronts the silence that the Greatest Generation is known for, spotty records at the National Archives, and memories of a prison unit that many would rather leave in the past.

"Astounding."—New York Post "Required Reading"

“When Terese Svoboda agrees to write the war story of her uncle, who served in the American military police in Japan in the aftermath of World War II, she enters a nightmarish world of secrets and irretrievable truths. Lucid, self-knowing and artful, her memoir about getting the story will resonate for readers of every generation.” —Alice Kaplan, author of The Interpreter

The Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize is funded in part by endowed gifts from the Arsham Ohanessian Charitable Remainder Unitrust and the Ruth Easton Fund of the Edelstein Family Foundation.