They Can't Take That Away from Me: The Odyssey of an American Pow | 
| Authors: Ralph M. Rentz, Peter Hrisko
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $24.84
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1841954
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0870136720
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.547252092
EAN: 9780870136726
ASIN: 0870136720
Publication Date: May 2003
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Ralph Rentz grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, with one dream: to be a professional musician. Playing clarinet, saxophone, and flute in 1930s big bands, Rentz wanted no part of the looming conflict that would become WWII. At twenty-one, he joined the National Guard to avoid being drafted. Ten days later, he was called up for active duty. Fearful of friendly fire, Rentz then signed up with the Army Air Corps, where he trained to be a radio operator. While on a secret mission in the Pacific, Rentz's B-17 was shot down over Malang, Java, where he and the rest of the crew were captured and became Japanese POWs. Surviving dysentery, pleurisy, dry beri-beri, tuberculosis, and slave labor, Rentz held on to his dream of returning to music and waited for a U.S. invasion that never came. They Can't Take That Away From Me recounts not only Rentz's devastating three-and-a-half years of captivity, but also his involvement in a secret government mission that has never before been revealed. Rich with the music of his youth, the book conjures up the losses, longing, sacrifices, and stolen dreams of imprisonment and return to the United States. Bittersweet and evocative, They Can't Take That Away From Me explores the irony of human resilience amidst the atrocity of war, and in that survival the unconquerable loss of a man's most cherished dream.
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| Customer Reviews:
Not Just for WWII Buffs June 20, 2003
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is not a book for just WWII buffs. I guarantee that anyone who appreciates fascinating and well-written non-fiction with an original angle will love They Can't Take That Away From Me. What sold me was the unique and artistic style employed in this POW memoir; it brought a fresh perspective to Ralph Rentz's struggle, triumph and the invincibility of his nightmare.
More than just a "Sentimental Journey" June 9, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
They Can't Take That Away From Me truly is an odyssey of one, rather atypical, American POW. However, it is more than just a "Sentimental Journey". This memoir is unlike any other WWII story, in that it reaches beyond the prosaic collage of nostalgic gore and glory and invites the reader to hear the song inside the bruised head of a musician who finds himself without his band, his saxophone and clarinet, without his freedom and even his own sanity, but never without his music. It is a tough tale, but it is softened with a lyrical literary style that makes it flow like the Pacific. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about music, adventure and inimitable tragedy.
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