A must-read war memoir... with zero punches pulled, related by one
of the most incisive observers of the American political scene. --KIRKUS
(starred review)
**Funny, biting, thoughtful and wholly original. --Tim O'Brien, author
of *The Things They Carried
**Jeff Danziger, one of the leading political cartoonists of his
generation, captures the fear, sorrow, absurdity, and unintended but
inevitable consequences of war with dark humor and penetrating moral
clarity.
**
If there is any discipline at the start of wars it dissipates as the
soldiers themselves become aware of the pointlessness of what they are
being told to do.
A conversation with a group of today's military age men and women about
America's involvement in Vietnam inspired Jeff Danziger to write about
his own wartime experiences: "War is interesting," he reveals, "if you
can avoid getting killed, and don't mind loud noises."
Fans of his cartooning will recognize his mordant humor applied to his
own wartime training and combat experiences: "I learned, and I think
most veterans learn, that making people or nations do something by
bombing or sending in armed troops usually fails."
Near the end of his telling, Danziger invites his audience--in
particular the young friends who inspired him to write this informative
and rollicking memoir--to ponder: "What would you do? . . . Could you
summon the bravery--or the internal resistance--to simply refuse to be
part of the whole idiotic theater of the war? . . . Or would you be like
me?"
