When Why Are We in Vietnam? was published in 1967, almost twenty years after The Naked and the Dead, the critical response was ecstatic. The novel fully confirmed Mailer's stature as one of the most important figures in contemporary American literature. Now, a new edition of this exceptional work serves as further affirmation of its timeless quality.A novel about a hunting trip in Alaska which turns into an initiation rite. Vietnam is mentioned only once and the book can be seen either as an allegory or a symbolic psychic explanation of America's fighting in Vietnam.