by Phil Klay
First published 2015
American soldiers come home from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan carrying invisible wounds. Through twelve interconnected stories, veterans struggle with the gap between combat and civilian life. A marine processes what he witnessed overseas while trying to reconnect with family. Another soldier grapples with survivor guilt after losing comrades. The stories move between war zones and American suburbs, showing how conflict follows these men and women long after their deployments end. Each character faces the question of how to live with memories of violence and loss. The collection reveals both the brutality of modern warfare and unexpected moments of dark humor. These soldiers must find ways to heal when their mission has ended and society has moved on without them.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, war, military-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Iraq, Afghanistan, America
Period: 21st-century
288 pages · Paperback · Literatura Random House
Content warnings: mental-illness, violence, war