Focusing on the often-ignored narratives surrounding the Vietnam War, Maureen Ryan delves into the experiences of veterans and their families, highlighting the long-lasting effects on their lives and communities. She examines the readjustment process for both male and female veterans, the struggles of their loved ones, the stories of POWs, and the plight of Vietnamese refugees. Ryan synthesizes a wide range of literary accounts, illustrating how the war's legacy continues to shape American culture and attitudes toward military conflict today.
"Abuse and exploitation of workers is baked into the very foundations of the entertainment industry. To break the cycle and make change that sticks, it's important to stop looking at headline-making stories as individual events. Instead, one must look closely at the bigger picture, to see how abusers are created, fed, rewarded, allowed to persist, and, with the right tools, how they can be excised. In Burn It Down, veteran reporter Maureen Ryan does just that. She draws on decades of experience to connect the dots and illuminate the deeper forces sustaining Hollywood's corrosive culture. Fresh reporting sheds light on problematic situations at companies like Lucasfilm and shows like Lost, Saturday Night Live, The Goldbergs, Sleepy Hollow, Curb Your Enthusiasm and more. Interviews with actors and famous creatives like Evan Rachel Wood, Harold Perrineau, Damon Lindelof, and Orlando Jones abound. Ryan dismantles, one by one, the myths that the entertainment industry promotes about itself, which have allowed abusers to thrive and the industry to avoid accountability--myths about Hollywood as a meritocracy, what it takes to be creative, the value of human dignity, and more." -- Amazon.com
