Wil S. Hylton is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine. His award-winning stories have appeared in many national magazines, including Harper's, Esquire, GQ, and Rolling Stone. Hylton lives in Baltimore.
Praise for Vanished
"A powerful story, masterfully told."—GQ
"[A] deeply textured, propulsive new book...Hylton has fashioned
something far more enduring than a feel-good read...Beyond the
technical strength of Hylton's achievement...there are passages so
expressive that we're constantly reminded we're in the hands of a
phenomenal writer."—TIME.com
"Vanished...marries an almost cinematically well-paced narrative
with a deep sensitivity to the people whose lives it tells."—The
Boston Globe
"Superb... Part Pacific Theater history, part Indiana Jones
thriller, Vanished pays tribute to the men who were lost in a
largely forgotten campaign, and it celebrates the determination of
the divers and scientists who risk their lives in exotic places to
bring the missing home."—Newsday
"A powerful tale of war that's also a briskly-paced thriller
of forensic sleuthing. Read Vanished, and you'll never think the
same way again about the Pacific Theater—or the heroic flyers who
gave their lives fighting in it."—Hampton Sides, author of Ghost
Soldiers
"A B-24 bomber is shot down over Palau in 1944, its crew never
recovered. After sixty years, one hardly expects a happy
ending, yet such is the love of the airmen's families, and the
dedication of the men and women who take up the search, that a
fierce hope burns through every page of Vanished. Wil Hylton
has given us a superb book."—Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn's
Long Half-Time Walk
"Spellbinding, moving, and masterfully researched, Vanished is at
once a first-rate mystery and an ode to the timelessness of a loved
one’s memories. In writing it, Wil Hylton has done more than tell a
beautiful story; he has spoken, as his heroes do, to one of man’s
noblest instincts, that no one should be left behind." —Robert
Kurson, author of Shadow Divers
“A beautifully reported tale sprawling from Texas to the South
Pacific. Hylton writes about fathers and sons, what is lost
forever, and what can be found after all hope is gone. Vanished is
a crucial book for anyone who cares about the cost of war.”
—Stephen Rodrick, author of The Magical Stranger
“A great read. Wil Hylton documents America’s noblest policy in
riveting narrative detail.” —Stephen Hunter, Pultizer Prize-winning
author of The Third Bullet
“This is an astonishing, kaleidoscopic book—part mystery, thriller,
and ghost story that happens to be true. I read it with goose
bumps, convinced that Vanished will take its place among the
classics of World War II literature. Wil Hylton is a storyteller
extraordinaire. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for honoring
the fallen with such clear-eyed, bighearted power here.”—Michael
Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert
“A breathtaking work of literary journalism and a dazzling debut.
Vanished unfolds like a cinematic mystery while exploring the
eternal questions of war, love, and loss. Hylton is a master
storyteller.”—Philipp Meyer, author of The Son
“One of the best journalists working today.”—John Jeremiah
Sullivan, author of Pulphead
"Bring[s] to life the exploits of a team of modern-day sleuths
hell-bent on tracking down the remains of World War II MIAs from
the Pacific Ocean theatre...Gives poignant insights into the
families of the missing men."—BookPage
"Hylton has produced a book that is alternately exciting and
moving."—The Daily Beast
"A gripping and moving tale of America's relationship with the
fallen solider."—Newsweek
"Superb... Hylton has written a book that resonates on many levels.
It brims with the great gifts of the human spirit — love and loss
and longing, courage and tenacity and strength in the face of
tragedy. It is a book whose virtues grab hold and won't let go
until you finish the final page. And even then, you're not quite
ready to put it down."—Dallas News
"An exceptional writer... the hidden ties that bind his characters
seem as clear and moving and inevitable as the story about war and
loss and recovery that he's telling."—Esquire
"Forces us to acknowledge that 'the lingering pain from WWII is as
potent as any other war' — something we are apt to forget due to
its 'good war' aura."—The Wall Street Journal
"Each narrative builds to a potent climax — one describing the
airmen's final, straight-out-of-war-movie battle, the other
detailing the awe-inspiring discovery."—Men's Journal
"Reads like a lit candle, casting light in hopes of finding
something lost, but also vigil-like, meant to remember as much as
to reveal."—Politico
"A remarkable achievement. Hylton adds humanity in abundance by
telling the story of the search through Pat Scannon, a doctor and
founder of a biotech company who has devoted years of his lifeand
many resources to the effort to find the men who went down with the
B-24."—The Seattle Times
"Hylton seamlessly fuses narrative, character, and historical
detail. Moving yet admirably unsentimental, this is a superb
account of war and its haunting aftermath."—Kansas City Star
"For readers interested in the mysteries of the war, this book will
grab them by the scruff of the neck and hold them spellbound from
beginning to end."—New York Journal of Books
"Hylton proves himself a major American writer. He has done what
every war story since The Iliad has attempted:In
telling the story of the ghosts he first felt on the
barge in the cerulean-blue Pacific, he has brought
some small bit of peace to the long aftermath of war."—City
Paper
"Hylton writes with poetic flair about the beauty of the
islands, the terrible conditions on the ground and in the air,
and the hard work of private experts such as anthropologist
Eric Emery and others in the last decades, as they searched
for the missing aircraft."—Library Journal
"Hylton succeeds in gracefully addressing the perennial
literary theme of memory and its connection to both personal and
collective loss. This relationship is Vanished’s burning
center."—Kirkus
"As riveting as it is well-researched."—Free Lance-Star
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