About the Book
Jeep ShowA Trouper at the Battle of the BulgeDespite a fatherhood deferment, thirty-year-old dance instructor Jim Tanzer enlists in the Army in 1943. Stella, his wife and partner in their dance act, regrets his choice.
Jim goes for paratrooper, but gets assigned to the Morale Corps because of his show business background. He is classified MOS 442: Entertainment Specialist.
Private Jim Tanzer is shipped to the European Theater of Operations and assigned to Jeep shows: three enlisted entertainers are driven to the front lines, where they put on small variety shows for combat infantry. Private Mickey Rooney leads Jim's squad.
Caught in the Battle of the Bulge, Jim retreats to Bastogne, where he is attached to Team SNAFU, a hastily-organized unit composed of survivors from overrun infantry companies, dismounted tankers and artillerymen, as well as clerks, bakers, mechanics and other rear-echelon soldiers pressed into combat to support the 101st Airborne Division.
Deftly interweaving Jim's story with historical events, O'Connor provides a compelling picture of a combat soldier's life in the ETO. Jeep Show also illuminates the Army's comprehensive efforts to improve the moral of its citizen-soldiers, and other little-known aspects of the U.S. war effort.
O'Connor salts the story with fascinating snapshots of show business life in pre-war America. For fans of WW2 non-fiction and fiction, including Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Ken Burns' The War, The Thin Red Line, With the Old Breed, The Red Badge of Courage, and Catch 22.
About the Author :
Robert B. O'Connor is the author of the WWII novel "Jeep Show - A Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge" and the non-fiction "Gumptionade - A Booster for Your Self-Improvement Plan." Two radically different books about morale.O'Connor lives and writes in Memphis, Tennessee. He is married to a physician-scientist and has three grown sons and a grandson.O'Connor's father, a WWII veteran, instilled in him a love of reading, his mother a love of sports. O'Connor was a die-hard Yankees fan in his youth (lean years for the Bronx Bombers), then lost interest after they regained their winning ways. Strangely, he is a supporter of Wigan Athletic, a third-tier English soccer club.Starting with "Yogi - The Autobiography of a Professional Baseball Player," O'Connor read mostly biographies in his younger years. He went through a Winston Churchill phase, including cigars. O'Connor still thinks that "The Path to Power," Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson, reads like poetry.Now O'Connor reads mostly fiction. He read "War and Peace" twice (necessary because every character has at least three different Russian names). "A Perfect Spy", "Ragtime," "Huckleberry Finn," and "Close Range: Wyoming Stories" are also at the top of O'Connor's fiction list. Recently, "North Woods" and "This Is Happiness" have delighted him.O'Connor's wrote his first book, "Gumptionade," after life punched him in the mouth. As he was helped up off the mat, O'Connor read the Stoics, the Bible, undertook psychoanalysis, and started a small business. These and other experiences and influences revealed to him the power of gumption. Willpower alone is not enough.Jeep Show began at Procter & Gamble, when O'Connor was told the Oxydol Circus legend. The promoter of that ill-fated circus, Jim Hetzer, inspired the protagonist of Jeep Show, Jim Tanzer.
Review :
"It seems odd to call a World War II novel 'delightful, ' but that's exactly what you get with O'Connor's mix of history and fiction as battles rage on and enlisted men entertain the troops." - Kirkus Starred Review
"Although a work of fiction, Jeep Show: A Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge brilliantly draws upon real people, places, and events drawn from the European theatre of World War II. A fun and fascinating read from start to finish, one that rises to an impressive level of literary excellence." - Midwest Book Review
"A compelling glimpse into a little-known aspect of WWIl military service ... His meticulous research shines through in historical details about Army life in WWII." - Purple Heart Magazine
"This refreshing take on military fiction masterfully balances the gravity of war with unexpected moments of fun and camaraderie." - BookLife (Editor's Pick)
"I couldn't put it down." - Dale Throneberry, Veterans' Radio Podcast
"A very entertaining read." - Richard Killblane, U.S. Department of the Army Historian (Ret.)
"Carefully researched, punctuated by the cornball humor of the time, Jeep Show puts the reader squarely in the action ... It is an incredible story, well told, a must-read for historical fiction buffs." - Will Sonnet, author, Duck Hunting in Quicksand
