The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, which won the young David Rabe an Obie and was hailed by The New York Times as "rich in humor, irony, and insight," is the story of a naive recruit's initiation into war. Sticks and Bones concerns a blinded Vietnam veteran who, returning home numbed by the war, is astonished by his family's inability to comprehend their country's politics and his rage.