When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, ...
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When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker. Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp, reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man. "Jarhead" insists we remember the Americans who are wounded or killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses left behind, and the continuing difficulty that American soldiers have reentering civilian life. A harrowing yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for inner peace, "Jarhead" will elbow for room on that short shelf of American war classics.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. Signed by Author(s) Scribner 2003 l 8thprinting of Swofford's excellent memoir **SIGNED & INSCRIBED** by Swofford on the title page. This book is in NEW/FINE condition. It appears unread. A lovely copy! ! **Brenbooks specializes in first edition books made into films. **BONUS** Recceive the 2007 Scribner Unsigned FIRST edition of "Exit" A his first novel in AN/AN condition.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. His first book, a highly praised memoir of the first Gulf War, which was immediately hailed as a classic of contemporary war literature, compared with Michael Herr's Dispatches, and became a surprise bestseller and a film. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Unless otherwise noted, our first editions are first printings.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine dust jacket. 0641546432. SIGNED by the author over his name on the title page. Price-intact dust-jacket, signature only, no personalization. Basis for the film starring Jacob Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx.; 9 X 5.90 X 1.20 inches; Signed by Author.
