Helpful Score: 1
This memoir chronicles the author's experience as a test subject for one of the hundreds of US Government nuclear bomb trials which took place in the desert of Nevada, and the aftermath of its effects on the author both physically and psychologically. As a young soldier, Bird was ordered to crouch in a trench with his squad a mere 4,000 yards from the detonation of the largest nuclear bomb explosion in North America, wearing only a WWII gas mask for protection. The memoir is framed by the author's three trips to Hiroshima which ultimately aid in his attempt to come to terms with both the terror and hope he shares with the victims and survivors of nuclear war in Hiroshima. His account brings to life the horror of Hiroshima that is only understood abstractly by many Americans. Additionally, it is very informative about the hundreds of nuclear explosions the government sponsors in our own country for the purpose of experimentation and the devastating effects of radiation disease caused by radioactive fallout. Folding Paper Cranes: An Atomic Memoir, is frank, sensitive, and searingly honest. It is sprinkled with poetry and though poignant with despair, ultimately brings a message of peace and hope.
