Old Man in a Baseball Cap

Just into the second paragraph of his lively and fresh wartime memoir, Rochlin writes that "Everybody has a story. I believe everyone's story is important; should be told, retold, written and recorded." Thank God, Rochlin told his. The greatest generation is fading fast. 1,000 World War II veterans die each day. And with them they take the first hand recollections of a great crusade that made this world worth living... Read Full Review

The magic of Old Man in a Baseball Cap is not the marvelous people you meet or the enduring glimpse of humanity Rochlin provides. The magic is the images that you unknowingly absorb while reading this book, images that come back to you and provoke thought, laughter and reflection. Rochlin writes with incredible ease and grace about what he saw as a young man in Italy during World War II. Most of us, I fear, would lock those... Read Full Review

This is a wonderful book of stories, not so much about war, but about a young man's experiences in extraordinary cirumstances. Rochlin is funny and moving as he recounts bizarre tales of humanity in all its ugliness and beauty. I couldn't put the book down. I loved Rochlin's voice, his plain-talking, no-nonsense appraoch to love and war. This is a must-read for anyone interested in truth, memoir, and coming of age. A classic... Read Full Review

After reading this book, I'm stunned by how easy us Gen-Xers have it these days. I thought about the life or death choices this poor guy had to make before he was twenty years old and it stunned me. The fact that Rochlin is so articulate, witty and charming is actually a bit disarming. He talks about war, fear, sex, survival and lust with such honesty and clarity that I wondered why he waited so long to put this book... Read Full Review

This books SEEMS slim at first: justa collection of war stories. But within a page or two I was hooked. Rochlin is a spare, vivid story-teller, the WWII stories he tells based on his experiences as a pilot are jaw-dropping. This book scares you, makes you cry, arouses you (yes, it's true) and in the end sears itself in your mind. I idly thumbed through it in my car outside the bookstore and stayed in the parking lot reading... Read Full Review