Media Reviews
As funny, disturbing, heartbreaking and ridiculous as war itself New York Times Book Review Fobbit is sharp; a well-observed and worthwhile contribution to the growing body of fiction generated by the conflicts of the past decade and lacking in the overwrought pretension of recent similar novels -- Patrick Hennessey The Times Abrams has a definite comic talent and a lively turn of phrase -- Sam Leith Guardian [Hilarious]... It is the rare writer - indeed, the rare person - who can step outside of himself and see with cold clarity the humor and pathos of his situation and then bring the reader to the same understanding. David Abrams is such a writer Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn Fobbit blends fiction and journalism, an apt reflection of literary influences combined with [Abrams's] experience in an Army public affairs team... Though absurd, these Dickensian characters are all so skillfully wrought that we quickly accept their idiosyncrasies... What's most intriguing about this work is that, at its center, it is both a clever study in anxiety and an unsettling expose of how the military tells its truths The Washington Post There's a lot of fun and wit here and the portrait it offers of a certain kind of American soldier, and a certain kind of war, is both valuable and accurate -- Thomas Quinn Big Issue [Abrams has] a genuine sense of humor...and a productive sense of irony to go with it. Fobbit is an impressive debut and holds out promise for more good things to come Los Angeles Times Fobbit is fast, razor sharp, and seven kinds of hilarious. It deserves a place alongside Slaughterhouse Five and Catch-22 as one of our great comic novels about the absurdity of war Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here When it comes to war literature, a comic novel will always do a better job with the big picture San Francisco Chronicle Fobbit, an Iraq-war comedy, is that rarest of good things: the book you least expect, and most want. It is everything that terrible conflict was not: beautifully planned and perfectly executed; funny and smart and lyrical; a triumph. This debut marks the arrival of a massive talent Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng A satire of comfortably numb life during wartime... Abrams spent 20 years in the Army, including a tour of Iraq, and he merely has to lightly fictionalize his observations to point out the absurdities of American occupation Newsweek An instant classic... The Iraq War's answer to Catch-22 Publishers Weekly This is a book that speaks to the power of fiction - a war story too profane and profound for the newspapers and the nightly news. Want to think, laugh and cry, all at the same time? Read this novel. Matt Gallagher, author of Kaboom This delightful, readable, believable and useful book made me furious! Tom McGuane [Fobbit] is] like an Office-style satire that happens to be set on a military base in an active war zone Slate.com Abrams is...convincing... Fobbit is a vicious skewering of this surprisingly large military subculture of war avoidance TIME A unique behind-the-wire glimpse at life in the FOB and the process of spinning a war for public consumption. A funny, hard-edged satire about recent history and modern war-making Library Journal Sardonic and poignant. Funny and bitter. Ribald and profane Kirkus Reviews You might not expect an Iraq War novel to be funny, but I laughed-more than once-as I read this one. I cringed, too. There's simply so much to this book Fiction Writers Review Truly significant... a book about the absurdity of the way the war is fought, the way the war is projected back home, and the massive gulf between the two...a cynical satire in the same vein as the best works of legendary wartime authors like Evelyn Waugh, Kingsley Amis, Kurt Vonnegut, and especially Joseph Heller. The Rumpus Fobbit is two things in one - a scathing, deeply felt diatribe against military disasters large and small, and an often-hilarious examination of very human, very weak characters living next door to a combat zone. The good news is that you only have to buy one copy, and you should waste no time in doing so Bookreporter.com Fobbit should be required reading for America. Hilarious and tragic, it's as if Louis C.K. and Lewis Black provided commentary to The Hurt Locker. There will be innumerable comparisons to Catch-22, but Fobbit, believe me, stands on its own George Singleton, author of Stray Decorum Funny and evocative, with great glimpses of soldier-speak and deployment day to day life, each laugh in the novel is accompanied with a troubling insight into the different types of battles that our soldiers encounter on a non-traditional battlefield Siobhan Fallon, author of You Know When the Men Are Gone The author describes Fobbit as an 'anti-stupidity' novel, not an anti-war novel, and with 20 years' service he has the evidence and flair to write the former... Fobbit is bliss Military Times Abrams shows these men and women in their natural habitats, stuck somewhere halfway between the actual violence of war and the goofy excess of American culture Book Riot The insanity is linguistic, and Abrams's dark humor about lying through language would appeal to George Orwell... Fobbit invites us to laugh over our collective foolishness-foolishness that sometimes includes deaths. That's the toughest, most painful laughter of all Great Falls Tribune [Fobbit] gives such full-blooded life to the soldiers whose pale, gooey center is so antithetical to battlefield heroism that he propels the word into the everyday by the force of his narrative Minneapolis Star Tribune Abram's tale is powerful stuff Shelf Awareness If Vonnegut and Heller were the undisputed chroniclers of the madness of World War II, Abrams should be considered the resounding new voice of the Iraq War Montana Standard [As] dark as it is funny, which is to say considerably... [Abrams has] written a book that makes you laugh and makes you wince, often at the same time, all the while staying true to its message: that people are foolish on many levels, sometimes fatally so, but they are all motivated by the same basic needs, desires, and fears...There are no heroes here, but no villains either. Each character fights his own war, and nobody wins The Millions
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