The Hunters

The Hunters is James Salter's debut novel and a tale of USAF fighter pilots during the Korean War, first published in 1956. The novel was the basis for the 1958 film adaptation of the novel starring Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner with a different storyline. Under his birthname James A. Horowitz, Salter himself was a fighter pilot with the rank of captain who saw combat from February to August 1952. He kept a detailed diary of his tour and the novel closely follows a chronology of events he experienced as an F-86 Sabre pilot with the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, based at Kimpo Air Base, Korea. Salter was 31 when he published the novel and made his protagonist the same age. He describes 31 as being "the end for him" as a fighter pilot: "...not too old, certainly; but it would not be long. His eyes weren't good enough any more. With an athlete, the legs failed first. With a fighter pilot, it was the eyes." Salter resigned from the Air Force soon after the publication of The Hunters to pursue an alternate passion, writing. Plot summary