THE HERO Versus Me & Monkey Jo

THE HERO Versus Me & Monkey Jo chronicles of adventures of Henry Neis who arrives in Vietnam an innocent youth from Kansas, and quickly falls in with addicts and lost souls. His story describes his rescue of a baby monkey, who becomes his faithful companion. Henry's mission is to get active-duty soldiers to fill out required paperwork for the US military with the name of their next of kin, given their likelihood of dying in battle. This is a story of awakening; of reaching rock bottom and finding redemption. Perry Shepard's prose pulls us into the "scene" immediately, and propels us on a journey that is at times exhilarating, shocking, and moving. A rollicking read and an eye-opening look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a foot soldier.
This is story about the effects of drugs on soldiers in the surreal environment of war. Henry Neis comes to Vietnam clean cut but soon joins a group of misfits and quickly becomes a drug addict and dealer. Henry and Monkey Jo travel gathering stories and using drugs.
The story opens with Henry sent to the brig upon returning home reviews his past year in war. Henry allows us to see how the soldiers cope with self-doubt, fear, loneliness, distrust of the Army and our government, and questions; the senseless act of deciding what a country should be, regardless of how the citizens view their needs and wants.
Henry and Monkey Jo interact with hooch maids, waitresses, drug dealers, remnants of the French colonizers, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Regular Army. Along the way he records the stories of fellow GI's and works to provide what he feels fellow soldiers need to survive in the surreal environment during the Vietnam War.
Henry takes us to a place we haven't seen as he traipses through the jungle into enemy territory, the devastated landscape for DD214 known as Agent Orange and the makeshift compounds put up for the American soldiers to camp in. Most of all he takes you on a ride of addictions giving a firsthand journey into the Army's counter culture and how it affects them-saving some, destroying others.
Perry L. Shepard is a Vietnam veteran who has written two novels: The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo, and Hard Love. He is working on his third novel called Wolfgang about a truck driver who sells his soul to the devil. He recently compiled his only poetry collection to date titled, A Rhythmic Circus Of Sound Part 66: ARECOSPart 66. He has co-written two plays in the anthology titled, Annabelle. He has also been published in newspapers, college poetry collections, and fanzines.
He was a board member on a Community Radio Station in Salt Lake City (KRCL), a radio music programmer, and one of the founders of the Utah Music Association. He was the Mayor and President of Harveysburg Village Council in Harveysburg, Ohio. He owned and operated the Painted Word Emporium in SLC, Utah-a restaurant, art and performance space. He drove trucks, and shrimp fished out of Arransas Pass, Texas.
Shepard won second place in the Eber and Wein's Best American Poetry of 2013, and an honorable mention in Writer's Digest' 84th annual Poetry Competition.
Shepard is a board member of (SMAG) South Mass Art Guild in Lawrence Kansas, and is a visual artist. He has work with youth in crisis for the past 29 years.
You can reach Perry at: https://anamcara-press.com/