Back to High School: Johnny Got His Gun

The Big Book Club Podcast from Arlington Public Library

“Johnny Got His Gun” is an anti-war novel written in 1938 by American novelist Dalton Trumbo and published in September 1939. There have been radio, stage and screen adaptations of the novel, including Trumbo’s own 1971 film, and Metallica recorded a song – titled One – based on the book. In March of 1940, the book was serialized in the Daily Worker, which was published by the Communist Party USA - to which Trumbo belonged. For people on the political left, including the American Communist Party, the book became a rallying point in their opposition to involvement in World War II. But when Hitler invaded the USSR in 1941, Trumbo and his publishers decided to suspend reprinting the book until the end of the war – so long as the US stayed allied with the Soviet Union.

Episode Links

• This episode - Gatsby musical in production at A.R.T. ; "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo ; “Wasteland: the Great War and the origins of modern horror” by W. Scott Poole
• Upcoming books - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison ; "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner

Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our Facebook group, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag. If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.

We're Reading and Watching

• Jennie – ““We Don’t Know Ourselves” by Fintan O’Toole
• Pete – “Clue” on DVD