Robert Wehrman

The Unnatural Act: Rock, Rhythm, and Blues in the Nam Robert Wehrman

The Unnatural Act is a satire about a 19 year old, abstemious, bumbling, virgin, Presbyterian tuba player, David Warren, who comes of age under the tutelage of a warlock, and a master junky-musician. Warren, aka, Skeet, is found wondering across the Mojave Desert in August 1971. He tells the tale of his outrageous adventures in the war.

The story is set in Moebius, the First Airmoble Division Band. These guys are seasoned professional musicians who pride themselves in getting away with playing insufferably bad. Their code-no practicing, never read the music, always play out of tune, and play as many wrong notes as you can get away with-is strictly followed by the cruel band as it flies into extremely hostile areas to play putrid versions of tunes like The Girl from Ipanema. The guys risk their lives daily to play this dreadful music for grunts that hate it.

Skeet forms an electric band that has adventures ranging from smuggling and whoring to practicing witchcraft and rescuing foot soldiers from the true enemy. Sometimes they perform knee-deep in mud. They're often attacked during their performances! One by one, Skeet's comrades leave for home, one way or another. Eventually, he finds himself alone in Vietnam so he goes to Bangkok where he falls in love with a pregnant prostitute. He returns home for the biggest surprise of all!