William Wharton - Birdy (HarperCollins Publishers)

An extraordinary story of war and friendship from one of America's most revered authors of the 20th Century. Two teenagers form an unlikely friendship in pre-War Philadelphia. Al is obsessed with lifting weights, looking good and chasing girls. Birdy is obsessed with flight. Birdy's passion becomes all-encompassing. Birdy wants to fly. A few years later these young men find themselves emotionally and physically scarred by Word War Two. Al is called to an army psychiatric hospital to help the doctors there treat his friend, who he finds squatting on the floor of his cell and acting like a bird. This haunting and brilliant novel has electrified readers the world over. It has truly become a modern classic. In 1984, Birdy was turned into an award-winning movie directed żeby Alan Parker and starring Nicholas Cage and Matthew Modine.