 Observed by the "Washington Star" as possibly "the single greatest piece of work to come out of Vietnam", with equally positive reviews from "The Guardian", Gloria Emerson of the New York Times and was described as a personal account of "aching clarity... A beautiful, painful book," by the New York Times Book Review.Similar reviews were given from "The Times", "The Washington Post", "The Sunday Times", "The Financial Times" and "Time Magazine" who cited O'Brien as "Perhaps the best writer about Vietnam".The rock band Big Country references the words "If I die in a combat zone / Box me up and ship me home" in the song Where The Rose Is Sown, as do The Screaming Blue Messiahs in their song "Someone To Talk To" as released on the "Peel Sessions" EP.