Alex Vernon

in conversation with Steve Marsh

It’s here at last—the first literary biography of landmark Minnesota writer Tim O’Brien. Written by Alex Vernon, a lauded war literature scholar who has himself served in combat, Peace Is a Shy Thing covers O’Brien’s experience during the war in Viet Nam and his award-winning writing in equal measure; an enthralling read with a wealth of information, the book illustrates why O’Brien should not be considered a “war writer” but simply one of the best literary artists of his generation. Join us as Vernon discusses Peace Is a Shy Thing with Steve Marsh, senior writer at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.

About the Authors

Alex Vernon graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (the only literature major in his class of over a thousand), served in combat as a tank platoon leader in the Persian Gulf War, and earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The recipient of an Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Book Award and a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship, he is the M.E. & Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor of English at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. Visit him at alex-vernon.squarespace.com.

Steve Marsh is a senior writer at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. He’s written features on the explosion of high-speed car culture during the pandemic, the war photography of David Guttenfelder, and why he needed the help of a podcast host (Heavyweight’s Jonathan Goldstein) to find his own long lost adopted sister. For nearly two decades, he’s written the magazine’s longform Q&A, interviewing authors like Tim O’Brien and Curtis Sittenfeld, chefs like Yia Vang and Gavin Kaysen, and artists like Dessa and Sandra Bernhard, among many others.