An extraordinary account of the war in Iraq.
Before enlisting in the army at age twenty-six, Colby Buzzell lived in the San FranciscoBay area. He served for two years, including about a year in Iraq, and now lives in Los Angeles.
'My War by Colby Buzzell is nothing less than the soul of an
extremely interesting human being at war on our behalf in Iraq'
*Kurt Vonnegut*
With this relentlessly cynical volume, Buzzell converts his widely read 2004 blog into an episodic but captivating memoir about the year he spent serving as an army "trigger puller" in Iraq. Posted to Mosul in late 2003, Buzzell's platoon was ordered "to locate, capture and kill all non compliant forces." Accordingly, his entries describe experiences pursuing elusive guerrillas (aka "men in black"); enduring sniping, rocket and mortar attacks; and witnessing the occasional car bomb. Face-to-face fighting almost never occurs. No matter: though the combat scenes are exciting, this book is actually more engrossing as a portrait of the day-to-day life of a young American soldier who has "read, and re-read, countless times, every single one of [Bukowski's] books." Like Bukowski, Buzzell appears to be a sentimental misanthrope; he pours scorn on everyone from cooks to generals to President Bush. He also despises the media, the antiwar movement and everyone who thinks they understand what's happening in Iraq. That his superiors kept their hands off his blog for several months, however, shows they understood that-despite its foul language, griping, insults directed at higher officers and occasional exposure of dirty linen-Buzzell's work never really wavers in its portrayal of American forces as the good guys in a dirty war. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
'My War by Colby Buzzell is nothing less than the soul of an extremely interesting human being at war on our behalf in Iraq' * Kurt Vonnegut *
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