The Modern Novel

Biography

Karl Marlantes was born in Seaside, Oregon in 1945. He served as a Marine lieutenant in the Vietnam War. He decided to write Matterhorn on returning to the United States, when he saw people protesting about the Vietnam War, in order to give the soldier’s perspective. However, publishers and agents were reluctant to publish a novel on the Vietnam War, so it took him thirty years to get the book published. In the meantime, Marlantes worked as an energy consultant and with a firm producing batteries.

Other links

Karl Marlantes
Northwest author Karl Marlantes took three decades to climb his own personal ‘Matterhorn’
Why I Write: Karl Marlantes
Interview
Interview