The Things They Carried is a collection of linked short stories by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. His third book about the war, it is based upon his experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division. O’Brien prefers to refrain from political debate and discourse regarding the Vietnam War, but has become jaded regarding the ignorance he perceives from the denizens of his home town toward the world. It is in part this ignorance that drove O’Brien to author The Things They Carried. It was initially published by Houghton Mifflin in 1990. Many of the characters are semi-autobiographical, sharing similarities with characters from his memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home. The book works heavily with metafiction, employing a writi