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Fobbit (2012)

by David Abrams(Favorite Author)

3.51 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0802120326 (ISBN13: 9780802120328)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Grove Press, Black Cat

review 1: Absolutely the Catch-22 of OIF. Hilarious. LMAO. It's disconcerting to be laughing and chuckling so much in the midst of so much death and destruction. All the stereotypes are here with the staff guys hiding on the FOB and the hard chargers who patrol the mean streets and can barely maintain their disdain for those outside their tribe. We have four principal characters: three officers and one enlisted; two public affairs types and two infantry types. Any one who has served/deployed can relate to these characters who are daily assaulted by the heat, bullshit, and never-ending stream of illogical and nonsensical whims of those in charge. So many happy to glad moments in the constant editing of press releases to hide the truth. The only thing I didn't like was the en... moreding.
review 2: This was sold to me as the Catch-22 of the Iraq War, which appealed to me because Catch-22 is one of my favorite novels and is absolute genius. Fobbit is not. It's not bad by any means, but it lacks the disjointed narrative brilliance of Catch-22 (which, it could well be argued, should not be held against it) as well as its myriad bizarre characters. Had I not read and taught Catch-22 so many times, I probably would have viewed Fobbit more favorably. The final scene in the Australian swimming pool is wonderful, for example. The nonsensical meetings are painfully funny. The point it makes about journalism and artificial milestones is important. I think it's a great look at the absurdity of this war, as Catch-22 was for World War II, and let's just say that absurdity is not always funny. I liked it quite a lot. And I feel for the men and women who endured, and who must continue to endure, this farce. less

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