The Things They Carried, the collection in which "How to Tell A True War Story" appears, received rave reviews from critics and readers alike when it appeared in 1990. Many of the stories in the collection, including "How To Tell A True War Story," had previously won awards following publication in periodicals such as Esquire, Ploughshares, and Atlantic Monthly. Indeed, critics such as Robert R. Harris, writing in the New York Times Book Review, called the volume a must-read for anyone interested in the Vietnam War.

The Things They Carried followed O'Brien's National Book Award for Going After Cacciato, another novel which has as the subject a soldier's Vietnam War experience. The Things They Carried was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critic's Circle Award. In addition, the book won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, the Melcher Book Award, and the Prix du...