cover image Page After Page: Memoirs of a War-Torn Photographer

Page After Page: Memoirs of a War-Torn Photographer

Tim Page. Atheneum Books, $19.95 (238pp) ISBN 978-0-689-12088-6

Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and war were the things Page cared about most as a freelance photographer in Vietnam, and he managed to combine all four passions in a wild, exhilarating, scary party that lasted from the early '60s into the '70s. He saw more combat than did the average soldier and sustained so many wounds that had he been in the military he'd have deserved a chest-full of Purple Hearts. He claims to have had ``the best time anyone could want to have.'' The postwar years were less jolly. Suffering from drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder, Page plunged in and out of poverty and despair, and underwent a series of operations to repair his damaged body. He writes here in a feverish, fast-forward shorthand style, telling a story that is alternately hilarious and heartrending. Readers of his memoir will understand why he has long been referred to as ``the legendary Tim Page.'' Photos. (Oct.)