'The Ha-Ha' by Dave King

Oct 26, 2005 — NPR listener Kathryn says of this novel about a mute Vietnam veteran, "Everyone with whom I have shared this book has thanked me profusely."

"The Ha-Ha by David King puts you inside the head of a mute Vietnam veteran as he begins to reconnect with society 20 years after he suffered his war injury. Everyone with whom I have shared this book has thanked me profusely."

— From Kathryn, who listens to WHRO in Norfolk, Va.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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'The Ha-Ha': A Novel Explores the Wounds of War

Jan 29, 2005 (Weekend Edition Saturday) — Dave King's debut novel, The Ha-Ha, features a man who loses his ability to speak after suffering a head injury in Vietnam. The book takes a look at the world inside Howie. King says thoughts of his late brother, born profoundly autistic, sparked the story.

Author Dave King discusses his first novel, The Ha-Ha, about a man who loses his ability to speak when he is injured in Vietnam.

The head injury Howie Kapostash suffered leaves him unable to speak, read or write. Thirty years later, he works as a gardener at a convent and lives in his old childhood home, where he rents rooms to virtual strangers.

Howie's closest friend is his old high school sweetheart, Sylvia, who usually has no use for him. Until one day, she has to check herself into a drug rehabilition program, and needs somewhere to park her nine-year-old son, Ryan. The relationship that Howie develops with Ryan, and how he reconnects to the world, is at the heart of the novel.

King, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is also a painter, holds an MFA in writing from Columbia University. He joins us to discuss his novel and his life before publishing his debut novel at age 48.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.