David Holdridge’s Second Book, The Water Above, Pulls the Curtain Aside on Conflict and Charity in the Holy Lands

WESTFIELD, VT, UNITED STATES, January 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Following the release of his debut book, The Avant Garde of Western Civ, which was awarded ‘Prize Americana’ in 2015, David Holdridge has now published The Water Above, which is receiving widespread critical acclaim across the country.

From a beer hall in Schenectady to the cork-lined room in Montmartre to Chu Lai in Vietnam to the neuropsychiatric wards in Boston to the civil war in Beirut, David’s last hurrah: The Water Above is a story, in the main, about an American family, exiled from the market place in Connecticut and dropped into Lebanon–one of the most violent civil wars of the 20th century. A child was born, two evacuations were effected, several detentions, a kidnapping as well as occasional self-inflicted abuse by the protagonists. But this story is more ambitious than that; it is an abiding eye on the great presumption of an ‘exceptional’ America to pervade the Middle East with its influence and the evident failures of such hopes. ‘The Water Above’ heralds the new era before America as well as what values Americans will carry forth as illustrated by one such foot soldier of Western civilization. Eminently modern but equally eminently American as Tocqueville’s protagonist who in his soul, remains ‘delinked, free and tragic’.

Critics have lauded The Water Above for its sharp insight and compelling narrative. Virginia Konchan, famous for her world-rattling poems and short stories, commented: “David Holdridge has written an irresistible tale of war, love, devotion, and madness, as well as the moral quagmires of Imperialism and International Aid. Our grand narratives, thought to be over, are brought back to life through David's voice, whose dreams of hallucinatory intensity contemporize the greats while giving the reader a rare insider perspective into today’s crisis of military intervention and masculinity.”

Former congressman from Washington State, Brian Baird, also praised the book, stating, “Serving both in combat and in humanitarian roles, David Holdridge has volunteered to be in some of the most hazardous places on earth, yet he has managed to maintain both his humanity and his humility.”

When asked about the reception of his latest work, Holdridge responded, “I am overwhelmed; I didn’t imagine while writing, that the book would connect with audiences the way it has.”
David’s narrative is available for purchase at Amazon.

About the Author
David Holdridge served as an infantry platoon leader during the Vietnam War in 1969, outside of Chu Lai. He was wounded and spent eighteen months getting repaired at various hospitals in the United States, culminating with operations at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut where neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb managed to free him from his trauma. Subsequently, he spent forty years working with humanitarian organizations, aiding populations affected by war, exploitation, and poverty in West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently, he divides his time between Beirut, Lebanon, and a farm in Vermont, which he shares with his wife, Annie. Their daughter, Hank, was born in Beirut, and their son, Alex, was born in Tunis.

Richard Bard
Gnome Book Writing
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