Holm is a published writer and editor with a master's degree in natural resources. In this essay, Holm discusses the elusive nature of truth and reality in Tim O'Brien's work.

War stories bring the horrible truth of war home to the reader. Readers witness, through the author's prose, the bloody realities of what it must be like to be engaged in combat and to wonder whether one will make it through the day alive. But truth as it relates to war for author Tim O'Brien is a shifting concept, one that is not rooted in anything concrete or recognizable. The elusive nature of truth and reality in war is made clear in O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story."

The irony of O' Brien' s use of the word "true" in the title of this short piece (which the author calls fiction rather than a short...