M*A*S*H is a series of novels co-written by H. Richard Hornberger and W. C. Heinz under the pen name Richard Hooker. The original novel, MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, was published in 1968, and would spawn a number of sequels. The first was written by Hooker, the rest were credited to Hooker and William E. Butterworth while being written entirely by Butterworth.
The series features a number of characters serving at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H)" during the Korean War.
The books would spawn a media franchise, M*A*S*H, including the 1970 film M*A*S*H, and the 1972 series M*A*S*H.
M*A*S*H provides examples of:
- Cosmic Deadline: All of Richard Hooker and William Butterworth's M*A*S*H Goes to... sequels are subject to this, more pronouncedly as the series continues. The books have six to ten plots and subplots that get more and more convoluted and intertwined until roughly page 170. Then suddenly everything is resolved (happily for the protagonists and the young lovers, of course) in the space of 10 to 15 pages.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: In the original novel, this is how the minor character "Me Lay" Marston got his nickname — asking Korean females "Me Lay, You Lay?".
- Meatgrinder Surgery: In the original novel, the surgeons refer to what they do as "meatball surgery" — doing quick (but hopefully not too dirty) surgery with the primary goal of keeping the patient alive until the doctors at a better-equipped hospital, such as an Evac unit or a military base hospital, can finish the job.Hawkeye: "Our general attitude around here is that we want to play par surgery on this course. Par is a live patient. We're not sweet swingers, and if we've gotta kick it in with our knees to get a par that's how we do it."
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: In M*A*S*H Goes to Morroco, a new and rather naive foreign service agent declares that her Arabic training has been inadequate, since she couldn't figure out what a sheikh meant by 'mudden yuri' or 'yumuth erware sar mishues'. (The sheikh in question is rather drunk, and is simply spouting what the people who got him that way — namely Hawkeye and Trapper — said every time they knocked one back.)
- Sequel Goes Foreign: The original novel had a number of sequels titled M*A*S*H Goes To _____, starting with Maine (Hawkeye returns home, Trapper decides to come with him) and hitting, before that particular horse was flayed beyond recognition, New Orleans, Paris, London, Las Vegas, Morocco, Hollywood, Miami, San Francisco, Montreal, and Moscow.
- Suicide Is Painless: "Painless Pole" Waldowski decides to commit suicide during one of his frequent attacks of depression, and the rest of the camp pitches in to "assist" him. Subverted, in that he doesn't actually die.
- Unfortunate Names: In the Hooker/Butterworth novels, there's a pompous newscaster whose name is Dan Rhotten. He constantly has to remind people that it's pronounced "ROW-ten."
- Work Hard, Play Hard: The declared mission statement of Hawkeye, Trapper John et al in the original novel is to be such brilliant and reliable surgeons when they're on duty that they can get away with absolutely any crazy shit they feel like pulling when they're off duty. It works.
- Worst Aid: The US Army surgeons curse British army medics for their habitual treatment of casualties with morphine and/or tea. The morphine makes it much harder for the surgeons to work out what is wrong with the wounded soldiers because they are unresponsive and the tea can cause additional infections to internal injuries.