The James Altucher Show

499 - Learn to Live in The Maybe: Tim O'Brien on War, Writing & Resting in The Unknown

Episode Summary

Tim O’Brien is the bestselling author, “The Things They Carried.” Tim wrote this book as a veteran of the Vietnam war. He was drafted. Like everyone else in their 20’s at the time. “85, 90% of our casualties came from land mines,” he said....

Episode Notes

Tim O’Brien is the bestselling author, “The Things They Carried.” Tim wrote this book as a veteran of the Vietnam war. He was drafted. Like everyone else in their 20’s at the time. “85, 90% of our casualties came from land mines,” he said. “Not gunfire. Not the typical battle you’ll see in movies. Landmines were the killing force.” Every step he took was a mystery. People died all around him. ““I’ll never know how close my foot was to a land mine,” he said. Now he's 73. And has a new book. It's called "Dad's Maybe Book." His son came up with the title. But I look at this book as a sequel to "Thinks They Carried." Because both books include the idea of "maybe." "Will I live another day?" "every day has maybe," Tim said. "But that’s true for everyone. We all write our maybe books. Maybe my dreams will come true. Maybe not. Maybe I’ll change my dream, amend them or qualify them..." This episode is about learning to get comfortable with the maybe. Settling in. And seeing the story unfold. 

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