Has nobody else read this book at all? I just finished it about a week ago. I thought it was quite good. I'm interested in reading the novel that he's written in the years since "Jarhead" came out ("Exit A") though I've read some reviews of it that say it's not particularly good. Prior to reading this book I had had some kind of delusion that I was doing some disservice to myself or somebody else by not enlisting in the military, that I was losing some kind of experience that might lend meaning to my life. After reading this account I don't have such romantic notions. Seriously though, has nobody else read this book? It sold quite a lot of copies.
I read it. I had a friend that was really into the Marines when it came out, wanted to be a sniper. Unfortunately, he didn't lose his illusions about the military until after 4 years of doing mail room and funeral services. Anyways, I read it because of his recommendations and it was a really great book. Anthony Swofford and the author of Black Hawk Down or We Were Soldiers (can't remember which) had some conflict, I heard; the latter was pissed about how stark the book was, made fun of Swofford for shitting (or pissing) himself, and accused him of demonizing the service. This was when it first came out and I was in highschool, but I vaguely remember the story about Swofford's friend that killed himself years later; was really moving stuff.
