<P> "Speaking of Courage" was originally published (in heavily modified form) as a chapter of O'Brien's earlier novel Going After Cacciato . </P> <P> "The Things They Carried" was also included in the 1987 volume of The Best American Short Stories, edited by Ann Beattie and the second edition of Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama by Robert DiYanni . </P> <P> The Things They Carried has received critical acclaim and has been established as one of the preeminent pieces of Vietnam War literature . It has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2010 . It has received multiple awards such as France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger Award and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, as well as being a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award . </P> <P> O'Brien has expressed surprise at how the book has become a staple in middle schools and high schools, stating that he "certainly hadn't imagined fourteen year - old kids and eighteen year - olds and those even in their early twenties reading the book and bringing such fervor to it, which comes from their own lives, really . The book is applied to a bad childhood or a broken home, and these are the things they're carrying . And in a way, it's extremely flattering, and other times, it can be depressing ." </P>

What awards did the things they carried win