Written with the stunning economy of language for which Michael Knight's
work has always been praised, The Typist is a rich and powerful work
of historical fiction that expertly chronicles both the politics of the
Pacific theater of World War II and the personal relationships borne
from the tragedies of warfare.
When Francis "Van" Vancleave joins the army in 1944, he expects his term
of service to pass uneventfully. His singular talent--typing 95 words
per minute--keeps him off the battlefield and in General MacArthur's
busy Tokyo headquarters, where his days are filled with paperwork in
triplicate and letters of dictation.
But little does Van know that the first year of the occupation will
prove far more volatile for him than for the US Army. When he's bunked
with a troubled combat veteran cum black marketer and recruited to
babysit MacArthur's eight-year-old son, Van is suddenly tangled in the
complex--and risky--personal lives of his compatriots. As he brushes
shoulders with panpan girls and Communists on the streets of Tokyo, Van
struggles to uphold his convictions in the face of unexpected
conflict--especially the startling news from his war bride, a revelation
that threatens Van with a kind of war wound he never anticipated.
