Wandering Souls: And Other Stories

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Caputo returns to the heart of the human condition with Wandering Souls, a collection of powerful stories that explore war, love, nature, life, and death.

In the gripping title story, a Vietnam vet revisits the war-torn landscape of his past, searching for the grave of a forgotten soldier--only to uncover far more than he bargained for. In another tale, a wildlife photographer in the African savanna risks everything for a chance at true love. A thief escaping Central America finds himself aboard a ship, only to be thrust into the peril of an approaching storm. These and other stories in Wandering Souls are told with the authenticity and keen insight that have made Caputo’s writing unforgettable, offering emotionally intense and richly atmospheric narratives.

With his distinctive style, Caputo delves into the complex relationship between man and memory--sometimes haunting, sometimes redemptive--capturing moments of profound emotional reckoning that compel his characters to confront their pasts and the indelible marks left by the places that shaped them. In Wandering Souls, the past is never truly gone; it is a force that defines us, for better or worse.

Philip Caputo was born in Chicago in 1941 and educated at Purdue and Loyola Universities. After graduating in 1964, he served in the US Marine Corps for three years, including a sixteen-month tour of duty in Vietnam. In addition to Memory and Desire, he has written seventeen books, among them three memoirs, ten works of fiction, and four of general nonfiction. His first book, A Rumor of War, is considered a classic of war literature. It has been published in fifteen languages and has sold more than 1.5 million copies. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Caputo has written dozens of articles in major magazines, op-ed pieces, and reviews for publications across the United States, including the New York Times, National Geographic, and the Chicago Tribune. He lives in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Patagonia, Arizona.