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Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War
These stories aren’t pretty and they aren’t for the faint of heart. They are realistic, haunting and shocking. And they are all unforgettable. Television reports, movies, newspapers and blogs about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have offered images of the fighting there. But this collection offers voices—powerful voices, telling the kind of truth that only fiction can offer.
What makes the collection so remarkable is that all of these stories are written by those who were there, or waited for them at home. The anthology, which features a Foreword by National Book Award winner Colum McCann, includes the best voices of the our wars’ generation: Brian Turner, whose poem “Hurt Locker” was the movie’s inspiration; Colby Buzzell, whose book My War resonates with countless veterans; Siobhan Fallon, whose book You Know When the Men Are Gone echoes the joy and pain of the spouses left behind; Matt Gallagher, whose book Kaboom captures the hilarity and horror of the modern military experience; and nine others.
What makes the collection so remarkable is that all of these stories are written by those who were there, or waited for them at home. The anthology, which features a Foreword by National Book Award winner Colum McCann, includes the best voices of the our wars’ generation: Brian Turner, whose poem “Hurt Locker” was the movie’s inspiration; Colby Buzzell, whose book My War resonates with countless veterans; Siobhan Fallon, whose book You Know When the Men Are Gone echoes the joy and pain of the spouses left behind; Matt Gallagher, whose book Kaboom captures the hilarity and horror of the modern military experience; and nine others.
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 5, 2013
40 people are currently reading
1467 people want to read
About the author
Matt Gallagher
14 books152 followersMatt Gallagher is a US Army veteran and the author of four books, including the novels Youngblood and Daybreak. His work has appeared in Esquire, ESPN, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Wired, among other places. A graduate of Wake Forest and Columbia, he is the recipient of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, a Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Fellowship, a Sewanee Writers’ Conference Fellowship, and was selected as the 2022 Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum Writer-in-Residence. He lives with his family in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
March 25, 2013
If Fire And Forget were being reviewed for content only, it would merit 10 stars. The bravery of these men and women extends beyond placing themselves in harm’s way to confronting terrible and hard-won truths…about themselves, their private battles, their basest instincts, their buried dreams.
As Jacob Siegel writes in the very first story: “War stories were almost never about war unless they’re told by someone who was never there.” And indeed, the most successful of these stories focus not so much on war, but on the aftermath of war and what it does to the psyche.
Take the story Redeployment by Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran. It starts, “We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose and we called it “Operation Scooby.” Or New Me, by infantryman Andrew Slater: “I joined the Army after my girlfriend Renee drowned because I felt that some people in my hometown would be unable to not blame me.” Or Tips for a Smooth Transition by military spouse Siobhan Fallon, who captivated me with her book, “You Know When The Men Are Gone”: “A week after his return from Afghanistan, they are already on a plane to Hawaii. This trip is a surprise anniversary gift, and Evie is a girl who hates surprises.”
This is prose that is honest and raw and gritty and haunting. One person’s story becomes every veteran’s story. And the story goes something like this: at the prime of your life, you’re deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan where IEDs are ubiquitous, life is trivialized, and you – or a close friend -- can be blown to smithereens in a heartbeat. After being on adrenalin overload for months – years! – you’re suddenly listening to Muzak piped in at your local mall far away from the violence and terror.
Whether it’s exploring the fishing trip of a 21-year-old boy who has “already been denied in so many ways – cuckolded, mutilated”, showcasing the limited choices of an infantry veteran who can’t find a meaningful job in a recessionary America, or zeroing in on an act of violence against the favorite rooster of a little girl, these stories unflinchingly take on the war that everyone wants to forget. Some stories are stronger than others, which accounts for the 4-star rating, but each story is poignant and powerful in its own unique way.
As Jacob Siegel writes in the very first story: “War stories were almost never about war unless they’re told by someone who was never there.” And indeed, the most successful of these stories focus not so much on war, but on the aftermath of war and what it does to the psyche.
Take the story Redeployment by Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran. It starts, “We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose and we called it “Operation Scooby.” Or New Me, by infantryman Andrew Slater: “I joined the Army after my girlfriend Renee drowned because I felt that some people in my hometown would be unable to not blame me.” Or Tips for a Smooth Transition by military spouse Siobhan Fallon, who captivated me with her book, “You Know When The Men Are Gone”: “A week after his return from Afghanistan, they are already on a plane to Hawaii. This trip is a surprise anniversary gift, and Evie is a girl who hates surprises.”
This is prose that is honest and raw and gritty and haunting. One person’s story becomes every veteran’s story. And the story goes something like this: at the prime of your life, you’re deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan where IEDs are ubiquitous, life is trivialized, and you – or a close friend -- can be blown to smithereens in a heartbeat. After being on adrenalin overload for months – years! – you’re suddenly listening to Muzak piped in at your local mall far away from the violence and terror.
Whether it’s exploring the fishing trip of a 21-year-old boy who has “already been denied in so many ways – cuckolded, mutilated”, showcasing the limited choices of an infantry veteran who can’t find a meaningful job in a recessionary America, or zeroing in on an act of violence against the favorite rooster of a little girl, these stories unflinchingly take on the war that everyone wants to forget. Some stories are stronger than others, which accounts for the 4-star rating, but each story is poignant and powerful in its own unique way.
March 23, 2013
I have yet to read the themed anthology that wasn't a little good, a little bad and a lot of in between. It's something I just expect now. After the last couple I read, I thought I was done with them, but here comes another one that catches my attention: Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War. I'm not sure why I wanted to read this. I hoped I could get something out of it, maybe a sense of great humanity. But really, another themed anthology, and one written entirely by soldiers? I don't know why, but it seemed a recipe for subpar writing.
I was wrong. Yes, Fire and Forget shares some commonalities with other anthologies of its class, and there are definitely works in here that I myself would've never included, but as a whole, this collection is above average. There are some really powerful and wonderfully written stories here. The authors of these tales give such a clear picture of the desperation and confusion that can cloud a person when returning from military service. Most of these stories are not so much about what happened “over there,” but about what happens after all that. A common element in many of these is a loss or gain of specific senses. It's done so well that I did not doubt the veracity of many of these author's stories, the things they have seen, and the world they have entered. Their stories contain more truths that I personally I know as a human being than any other report out of Afghanistan and Iraq has shown me, and therefore I believe them.
Particularly stellar stories were written by Andrew Slater, Colby Buzzell, Mariette Kalinowski, Phil Klay, and Siobhan Fallon. There were several other well-written pieces as well, and for a themed anthology of only fifteen stories, Fire and Forget is by far the best of its kind I've read to date.
I was wrong. Yes, Fire and Forget shares some commonalities with other anthologies of its class, and there are definitely works in here that I myself would've never included, but as a whole, this collection is above average. There are some really powerful and wonderfully written stories here. The authors of these tales give such a clear picture of the desperation and confusion that can cloud a person when returning from military service. Most of these stories are not so much about what happened “over there,” but about what happens after all that. A common element in many of these is a loss or gain of specific senses. It's done so well that I did not doubt the veracity of many of these author's stories, the things they have seen, and the world they have entered. Their stories contain more truths that I personally I know as a human being than any other report out of Afghanistan and Iraq has shown me, and therefore I believe them.
Particularly stellar stories were written by Andrew Slater, Colby Buzzell, Mariette Kalinowski, Phil Klay, and Siobhan Fallon. There were several other well-written pieces as well, and for a themed anthology of only fifteen stories, Fire and Forget is by far the best of its kind I've read to date.
December 10, 2014
I originally picked up this book because I am interested in war literature and because I hoped that through my reading I would gain some insight into a conflict that, despite how much I read or hear about it, I am still trying to understand.
In his review, E.L. Doctorow says the book is "necessary to read." I agree and think that every American should read this amazing and diverse collection of stories by this amazing and diverse group of extremely talented writers, all of whom served in some capacity in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. When I finished book, however, two things became clear to me.
First, the book challenges readers to examine their own perceptions and attitudes about the The Long War, about the service provided by our troops, and about the personal aftermath of that service. The book asks the reader directly, particularly those like myself who have never served in the military or been involved in an armed conflict, “Why are you interested? Why do you care? What is your stake in the fate of those who serve to safeguard the freedoms you enjoy?”
I came away from my reading experience with, on the one hand, the understanding that I will never come close to a comprehension what these men and women have fundamentally endured, have struggled with, and have overcome as a result of their service. On the other hand, I have a greater, though limited, understanding of the personal, human toll that many of these men and women have paid for their service and for our freedom. Freedom comes at a very, very high cost, and it’s a cost that every one of us bears but that most of us do not fully appreciate or comprehend. And as Siobhan Fallon’s story “Tips for a Smooth Transition” reminds us, the cost borne by the friends, loved ones and family members is particularly high.
Second, the book itself, a vital and “necessary collection,” as Doctorow calls it, stands as a testament to the fact that the voices of our servicemen and servicewomen need to be heard. The stories in this collection communicate many things; they are meditative, cathartic, elegiac, angry, and beautiful. But most of all, they are humanizing. They imbue what is for most of us a set of abstractions—war, death, trauma, the transition from the battlefield to the home front—with a voice and with agency. This doesn’t make the experiences of the writers more real; instead, it makes them surreal and in doing so underscores the fact that war is a reality that can never be rationalized. The book, however, seems to tell us that an effort to at least try to understand the surreal nature of war is necessary. We have to try.
Out of the 15 stories in this collection, the standout for me is “Big Two-Hearted Hunting Creek” by Brian Van Reet. The artistry of Van Reet’s writing is superlative, something that is shocking, juxtaposed as it is against several moments of truly abject imagery. Phil Klay’s “Redeployment,” Gavin Ford Kovite’s “When Engaging Targets, Remember,” and Perry O’Brien’s “Poughkeepise” are also amazing. All of the writers and their work in this collection are, though, worth an honorable mention, and I feel honored to have had the privilege to read these bravely told stories.
In his review, E.L. Doctorow says the book is "necessary to read." I agree and think that every American should read this amazing and diverse collection of stories by this amazing and diverse group of extremely talented writers, all of whom served in some capacity in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. When I finished book, however, two things became clear to me.
First, the book challenges readers to examine their own perceptions and attitudes about the The Long War, about the service provided by our troops, and about the personal aftermath of that service. The book asks the reader directly, particularly those like myself who have never served in the military or been involved in an armed conflict, “Why are you interested? Why do you care? What is your stake in the fate of those who serve to safeguard the freedoms you enjoy?”
I came away from my reading experience with, on the one hand, the understanding that I will never come close to a comprehension what these men and women have fundamentally endured, have struggled with, and have overcome as a result of their service. On the other hand, I have a greater, though limited, understanding of the personal, human toll that many of these men and women have paid for their service and for our freedom. Freedom comes at a very, very high cost, and it’s a cost that every one of us bears but that most of us do not fully appreciate or comprehend. And as Siobhan Fallon’s story “Tips for a Smooth Transition” reminds us, the cost borne by the friends, loved ones and family members is particularly high.
Second, the book itself, a vital and “necessary collection,” as Doctorow calls it, stands as a testament to the fact that the voices of our servicemen and servicewomen need to be heard. The stories in this collection communicate many things; they are meditative, cathartic, elegiac, angry, and beautiful. But most of all, they are humanizing. They imbue what is for most of us a set of abstractions—war, death, trauma, the transition from the battlefield to the home front—with a voice and with agency. This doesn’t make the experiences of the writers more real; instead, it makes them surreal and in doing so underscores the fact that war is a reality that can never be rationalized. The book, however, seems to tell us that an effort to at least try to understand the surreal nature of war is necessary. We have to try.
Out of the 15 stories in this collection, the standout for me is “Big Two-Hearted Hunting Creek” by Brian Van Reet. The artistry of Van Reet’s writing is superlative, something that is shocking, juxtaposed as it is against several moments of truly abject imagery. Phil Klay’s “Redeployment,” Gavin Ford Kovite’s “When Engaging Targets, Remember,” and Perry O’Brien’s “Poughkeepise” are also amazing. All of the writers and their work in this collection are, though, worth an honorable mention, and I feel honored to have had the privilege to read these bravely told stories.
February 22, 2013
'The pity of war...'
There can never be enough novels or short stories based on men's and women's experiences with war. Combat veterans, no matter the era or war about which they write, have wisdom at times fractured by the incoming destructive elements of warfare, but wisdom that must be shared if there will ever be a time when war isn't an option. Not that there is any sort of hope that that state of human understanding will ever supersede the need for territorial/tribal/nationalism/mistrust/religious differences that drives us to the battlefield. But if there is any voice that demands to be heard it is that of those who faced what we created as the `enemy' and to quote Pogo, `the enemy is us.'
FIRE AND FORGET is a collection of fifteen stories by an assortment of people who have been exposed to war, particularly the dry, sand blasted conflagrations in the Middle East. The stories were collected and edited by Roy Scranton and Matt Gallagher who also contribute stories here. In a penetrating Foreword `Eclipsing War' written by Colum McCann the mood for what is to follow is set, not only for the collection but for the history of the disgrace of war: `All stories are war stories somehow. Every one of us has stepped from one war or another. Our grandfathers were there when the stench of Dresden hung over the world, and our fathers were there when Vietnam sent its children running napalmed down the dirt road. Our grandmothers were there when Belfast fell into rubble, and our mothers were there when Cambodia became a crucible of bones. Our sisters in South Africa, our brothers in Gaza. And, God forbid, our sons and daughters will have stories to tell too. We are scripted by war. It is the job of literature to confront the terrible truths of what war has done and continues to do to us. It is also the job of literature to make sense of what ever small beauty we can rescue form the maelstrom.'
What follows are fifteen penetrating stories from the hands of the damaged who have scribed the tensions, and anguish, the scars, the decimation of personal lives of those who returned home either physically maimed or mentally brutalized or both. But these stories are so well edited that there is a variety of types of tales - some humorous, some that show that intense camaraderie that often peaks in a war zone, some about those left behind when the soldiers were fragged to distant lands - the degree of pain at seeing the morcellated psyches of those soldiers when they return home to a country they no longer recognize. Some tattoo on the mind - like the intensely sensitive `Redeployment ` by Phil Klay that opens with the words, `We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose, and we called it "Operation Scooby". I'm a dog person, so I thought about that a lot.'
But get past the initial impact of in coming and here are the works of 15 fine writers. We likely will hear more from them.
Grady Harp
There can never be enough novels or short stories based on men's and women's experiences with war. Combat veterans, no matter the era or war about which they write, have wisdom at times fractured by the incoming destructive elements of warfare, but wisdom that must be shared if there will ever be a time when war isn't an option. Not that there is any sort of hope that that state of human understanding will ever supersede the need for territorial/tribal/nationalism/mistrust/religious differences that drives us to the battlefield. But if there is any voice that demands to be heard it is that of those who faced what we created as the `enemy' and to quote Pogo, `the enemy is us.'
FIRE AND FORGET is a collection of fifteen stories by an assortment of people who have been exposed to war, particularly the dry, sand blasted conflagrations in the Middle East. The stories were collected and edited by Roy Scranton and Matt Gallagher who also contribute stories here. In a penetrating Foreword `Eclipsing War' written by Colum McCann the mood for what is to follow is set, not only for the collection but for the history of the disgrace of war: `All stories are war stories somehow. Every one of us has stepped from one war or another. Our grandfathers were there when the stench of Dresden hung over the world, and our fathers were there when Vietnam sent its children running napalmed down the dirt road. Our grandmothers were there when Belfast fell into rubble, and our mothers were there when Cambodia became a crucible of bones. Our sisters in South Africa, our brothers in Gaza. And, God forbid, our sons and daughters will have stories to tell too. We are scripted by war. It is the job of literature to confront the terrible truths of what war has done and continues to do to us. It is also the job of literature to make sense of what ever small beauty we can rescue form the maelstrom.'
What follows are fifteen penetrating stories from the hands of the damaged who have scribed the tensions, and anguish, the scars, the decimation of personal lives of those who returned home either physically maimed or mentally brutalized or both. But these stories are so well edited that there is a variety of types of tales - some humorous, some that show that intense camaraderie that often peaks in a war zone, some about those left behind when the soldiers were fragged to distant lands - the degree of pain at seeing the morcellated psyches of those soldiers when they return home to a country they no longer recognize. Some tattoo on the mind - like the intensely sensitive `Redeployment ` by Phil Klay that opens with the words, `We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose, and we called it "Operation Scooby". I'm a dog person, so I thought about that a lot.'
But get past the initial impact of in coming and here are the works of 15 fine writers. We likely will hear more from them.
Grady Harp
March 25, 2013
Fire and Forget is a collection of short stories about the warriors and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These stories are about returned veterans and those who are still in the desert fighting for our country. One story is about the wife of a deployed soldier.
The title is a misnomer. One does not fire and forget. One fires and remembers. Perhaps the memories are in the brain. Some are in the body. PTSD is rampant as are the physiological scars of war.
The stories are not easy to read. They are painful and frightening. They tell of the basest fears and actions that humanity can imagine.
In Bit Two-Handed Hunting Creek a man returns to the states after losing his private parts due to shrapnel. His best friend, standing next to him when the IED goes off, is scarred all over his face and has repeated plastic surgery. “I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in the passing SUV. From a distance, I didn’t look half-bad. The only thing off was the size of my head: swollen, as if it had been stung by a thousand bees.”
In Smile, There are IED’s Everywhere, three soldiers, scarred by the war, are home for good and discuss their lives with each other. They have one foot in the desert and one foot in the states.
Siobhan Fallon, an author whose novel I loved, writes a short story about Colin who returns home from Afghanistan after his third deployment. He and his wife, Evie, walk on eggshells trying to find one another again. The story contains ‘tips for a smooth transition’ which are juxtaposed with Colin and Evie’s lives.
Redeployment starts off horrendously. “We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose, and we called it “Operation Scooby”. I’m a dog person so I thought about that a lot. This story focuses on the disconnect between being at war and being home. Code orange vs. code white. How do you even describe code orange to a civilian?
In The Train, a woman back from Iraq rides trains all day in New York to avoid the memories of her deployment. The disconnect of being home versus the deaths she witnessed is huge. She wants to spend time with her mother in Vermont but can’t bring herself to do something that would be relaxing. She MUST ride the trains.
In New Me a soldier comes home to his fiancée. He suffers brain damage and PTSD manifested primarily with bad dreams.
The introduction by Colum McCann, last year’s National Book Award winner is excellent. The book bleeds into the reader like the blood the veterans shed. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the feelings of being at war and coming home, of the disconnect between fighting and trying to meld again with family and friends.
The title is a misnomer. One does not fire and forget. One fires and remembers. Perhaps the memories are in the brain. Some are in the body. PTSD is rampant as are the physiological scars of war.
The stories are not easy to read. They are painful and frightening. They tell of the basest fears and actions that humanity can imagine.
In Bit Two-Handed Hunting Creek a man returns to the states after losing his private parts due to shrapnel. His best friend, standing next to him when the IED goes off, is scarred all over his face and has repeated plastic surgery. “I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in the passing SUV. From a distance, I didn’t look half-bad. The only thing off was the size of my head: swollen, as if it had been stung by a thousand bees.”
In Smile, There are IED’s Everywhere, three soldiers, scarred by the war, are home for good and discuss their lives with each other. They have one foot in the desert and one foot in the states.
Siobhan Fallon, an author whose novel I loved, writes a short story about Colin who returns home from Afghanistan after his third deployment. He and his wife, Evie, walk on eggshells trying to find one another again. The story contains ‘tips for a smooth transition’ which are juxtaposed with Colin and Evie’s lives.
Redeployment starts off horrendously. “We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose, and we called it “Operation Scooby”. I’m a dog person so I thought about that a lot. This story focuses on the disconnect between being at war and being home. Code orange vs. code white. How do you even describe code orange to a civilian?
In The Train, a woman back from Iraq rides trains all day in New York to avoid the memories of her deployment. The disconnect of being home versus the deaths she witnessed is huge. She wants to spend time with her mother in Vermont but can’t bring herself to do something that would be relaxing. She MUST ride the trains.
In New Me a soldier comes home to his fiancée. He suffers brain damage and PTSD manifested primarily with bad dreams.
The introduction by Colum McCann, last year’s National Book Award winner is excellent. The book bleeds into the reader like the blood the veterans shed. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the feelings of being at war and coming home, of the disconnect between fighting and trying to meld again with family and friends.
July 18, 2014
This is a book of short stories by writers who are all veterans of the military, mostly serving in Iraq but also Afghanistan. I picked it up originally thinking it was more of a narrative of real life, but they're actually fictional stories. It was really interesting to read the different stories that people cam cup with. There's a wide variety of perspectives at play in the book and you get a sense for many different aspects of military life during wartime, both during deployment and adjusting back to home. Having no experience myself, I found it a little hard to relate at times, but I think that's the point. There's so many of us out there that just have no understanding of what it's like, and people close to service members may not even have a clue because it's just such a life-changing experience. I found it hard to tell which parts were more true-to-life than other parts that might be more fictional or exaggerated, perhaps, but overall they were good stories and I don't think that was necessary.
My favorite stories, the ones that seemed like really good writers, in addition to being good story-tellers as they all were, include:
Jacob Siegel, Smile There Are IEDS Everywhere
Phil Klay, Redeployment
Mariette Kalinowski, The Train. Definitely my favorite.
Roman Skaskiw, Television
New Me, Andrew Slater
My favorite stories, the ones that seemed like really good writers, in addition to being good story-tellers as they all were, include:
Jacob Siegel, Smile There Are IEDS Everywhere
Phil Klay, Redeployment
Mariette Kalinowski, The Train. Definitely my favorite.
Roman Skaskiw, Television
New Me, Andrew Slater
August 16, 2013
This book was very real, and I'm not just talking about the cussing and the drinking, and the pit-less frustration; but the emptiness of coming back to something that will never look the same again.
The first half of the book is some of the better writing. There was some great imagery and terms that helped me understand the life of most marines, not to mention the magnificent chapter from an army wife's perspective. There was something missing at the end of most chapters though... to me, good writing tells a story, but also leaves you with some sort of small comfort in the midst of a troubling situation. That small comfort is what keeps us going. It says that despite all of this sh**, I'm ok. I will eventually get through it.
However, most of these stories said "This is how it is, this is what happened. The end." Sometimes that's ok. It's ok to not know what the meaning of it all is. But, after reading most chapters like that, it left me feeling empty as well. I'd like to believe that not all of these marines were left empty for the rest of their lives.
The first half of the book is some of the better writing. There was some great imagery and terms that helped me understand the life of most marines, not to mention the magnificent chapter from an army wife's perspective. There was something missing at the end of most chapters though... to me, good writing tells a story, but also leaves you with some sort of small comfort in the midst of a troubling situation. That small comfort is what keeps us going. It says that despite all of this sh**, I'm ok. I will eventually get through it.
However, most of these stories said "This is how it is, this is what happened. The end." Sometimes that's ok. It's ok to not know what the meaning of it all is. But, after reading most chapters like that, it left me feeling empty as well. I'd like to believe that not all of these marines were left empty for the rest of their lives.
February 12, 2013
This collection of stories written by veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and one by a spouse) wrestles with the challenge of "how to say something true about an experience unreal" (xiii). Fiction is their chosen vehicle. And while I can't comment on how successful they have been at communication that truth (having not experienced what they have) I can definitely say these stories carry the ring of truth and powerfully communicate the disorienting and sometimes absurd experiences of war. They also vividly portray the equally disorienting and no less confusing experience of coming home again. The juxtaposition of those two movements ebbs and flows throughout this collection, constantly drawing the reader to struggle with their relationship. As with any collection, the stories are a bit uneven, but there are some real gems here. The first story, "Smile, There are IEDs Everywhere," is a powerful story about coming to terms with the reality of war and its deep effects on those who experience it. The narrator speaks of his own reluctance to tell his stories to his wife, a powerful struggle that really sets the stage for the whole collection. I think coming to terms with the aftermath of war, particularly the aftermath in the lives of our soldiers, is one of the key issues of our age, and this book speaks powerfully to that moment in history. Through its variety of voices and perspectives, it helps us sympathetically inhabit these realities that are so far from the day-to-day experiences of us back home.
Thanks to the publisher and the Amazon Vine program for the review copy.
Thanks to the publisher and the Amazon Vine program for the review copy.
March 25, 2013
I hate it when a book makes my eyes all water and stuff... I'm more a fan of combat related war stories, but this book was a welcome change. It opens one's eyes to the reality that our people face, having been used as pawns in the games that our government plays, all over the world. Truly, we owe these men and women that served our country a debt that can never truly be repaid.
March 23, 2013
If you want to know what it is really like for soldiers and their families, then read the experiences presented in this short story collection. I had to read it slowly because I was blown away (hmm bad choice of phrase) by just about every story. Recommended.
January 9, 2014
A mixed bag. Some will fire you up and some you will forget. They are all written by men and women who were there so they are all very real.
September 10, 2016
Although hard to stomach at times, this anthology is amazing. As my first venture into this genre of sorts, I couldn't have asked for a better way to begin.
May 25, 2017
When America went to war in Vietnam, 58,000 or so Americans died (supposedly almost 1.5 million Vietnamese and Cambodians died, as well); American deaths in OEF and OIF combined is something like 7,000, which is a little more than the number of Americans that die in DUI-related accidents every year. The Vietnam war was also closer to WWII in terms of technology and safety than OEF/OIF. They fought in light flak jackets that didn't stop bullets; whole platoons sometimes didn't return from a patrol; they fixed bayonets; they died of blood loss and airway blockage that even privates fresh from basic training are in theory able to manage on their own today. There was also a draft system that tore families apart and sent mostly the poor to fight on the ground in a war they were likely only invested in (if at all) because of instinctual loyalty to country and tribe. Considering the seemingly indiscriminate carnage seen in Vietnam, it's not surprising that so many came back to greet anxious families with thousand yard stares and unromantic psychological trauma. I've noticed that action films after this period sometimes contain brutal violence that seems to me like the ghost of that trauma still haunting the national consciousness. The Rambo archetype - a good, simple guy who longs to go back to the simplicity and honesty of wartime life - developed, stuck, and, unfortunately, seems to endure to some extent.
There are good stories in this book and good writing, though they don't always pair. The first half of Matt Gallagher's story, a law school classmate of the troubled girlfriend of a troubled soldier making romantic overtures in a coffee shop in Hawaii, is probably the strongest passage in the entire book, as far as I'm concerned. Roman Skaskiw's brief portrait of the Colonel is memorable and somehow funny. But, the portraits of PTSD strike me as either navel-gazing or cartoonish, the latter being the case with Perry O'Brien's AWOL stalker that imagines himself as king of the rabbits on the grounds of a college. The stories are also kind of monotone, though Gavin Ford Kovite's experimentation with presentation and tone is a welcome variation.
What's mostly missing is, of course, joy. Skaskiw gets at it a little with his relationship between the forgetful junior enlisted driver and lieutenant, but there isn't much more. When my contract was up with the national guard, I couldn't wait to get out. I found my deployment to Kuwait to be an almost hellishly pointless and frustrating experience, and afterwards came to resent my weekend training. I also remember laughing myself to tears constantly. I remember riding around in the gunner's hatch in the sunshine in Mississippi, looking at the stars through NVGs, intricate and hilarious practical jokes in the barracks, competitive ping pong tournaments, watching the sunset over the Persian Gulf from behind a 240B in a guard tower. I know everyone else does, too, so why not write about these things? There's no mysticism in the gloom of depression, and there *is* rapture in the world beyond your rut. I wish writers would indulge it as often as they wallow in "the bad days."
There are good stories in this book and good writing, though they don't always pair. The first half of Matt Gallagher's story, a law school classmate of the troubled girlfriend of a troubled soldier making romantic overtures in a coffee shop in Hawaii, is probably the strongest passage in the entire book, as far as I'm concerned. Roman Skaskiw's brief portrait of the Colonel is memorable and somehow funny. But, the portraits of PTSD strike me as either navel-gazing or cartoonish, the latter being the case with Perry O'Brien's AWOL stalker that imagines himself as king of the rabbits on the grounds of a college. The stories are also kind of monotone, though Gavin Ford Kovite's experimentation with presentation and tone is a welcome variation.
What's mostly missing is, of course, joy. Skaskiw gets at it a little with his relationship between the forgetful junior enlisted driver and lieutenant, but there isn't much more. When my contract was up with the national guard, I couldn't wait to get out. I found my deployment to Kuwait to be an almost hellishly pointless and frustrating experience, and afterwards came to resent my weekend training. I also remember laughing myself to tears constantly. I remember riding around in the gunner's hatch in the sunshine in Mississippi, looking at the stars through NVGs, intricate and hilarious practical jokes in the barracks, competitive ping pong tournaments, watching the sunset over the Persian Gulf from behind a 240B in a guard tower. I know everyone else does, too, so why not write about these things? There's no mysticism in the gloom of depression, and there *is* rapture in the world beyond your rut. I wish writers would indulge it as often as they wallow in "the bad days."
July 16, 2025
Fire and Forget is a collection of short stories written by veterans, so even if the stories are sometimes a bit lacking, there is real experience behind them. And, with a few exceptions, they manage to get across the complexities of how soldiers react to, cope with, and try to forget their war experiences.
For all the generic talk of how soldiers must reassimilate into society and the widely known symptoms of PTSD, each case is unique. This is, perhaps, best exemplified by “Tips for a Smooth Transition” by Siobhan Fallon. She writes from the perspective of a wife struggling to ease her husband back into his old life using manual procedures, but it quickly becomes clear that her husband’s behavior is too erratic to be simplified into a standard formula, and it is up to her to deal with each situation as it comes.
There are a variety of writing styles on display, but the stories overall tend toward the literary with clear echoes of Hemingway and Salinger, although some branch out in different ways. “Poughkeepsie” by Perry O’Brien is more surreal, like a war story by way of Nikolai Gogol. Gavin Ford Kovite’s “When Engaging Targets, Remember” makes use of the structure of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, all with the reminder that there is only so much you can do when your decisions often have to be made within a matter of seconds.
If there is a through line then, it is the callousness that comes with people who must cover up some broken aspect of themselves, whether that be their inability to deal with the discrepancy between military and civilian life or the horror that is the quick and unexpected departure of the flesh that is a requisite part of war that veterans have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
For all the generic talk of how soldiers must reassimilate into society and the widely known symptoms of PTSD, each case is unique. This is, perhaps, best exemplified by “Tips for a Smooth Transition” by Siobhan Fallon. She writes from the perspective of a wife struggling to ease her husband back into his old life using manual procedures, but it quickly becomes clear that her husband’s behavior is too erratic to be simplified into a standard formula, and it is up to her to deal with each situation as it comes.
There are a variety of writing styles on display, but the stories overall tend toward the literary with clear echoes of Hemingway and Salinger, although some branch out in different ways. “Poughkeepsie” by Perry O’Brien is more surreal, like a war story by way of Nikolai Gogol. Gavin Ford Kovite’s “When Engaging Targets, Remember” makes use of the structure of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, all with the reminder that there is only so much you can do when your decisions often have to be made within a matter of seconds.
If there is a through line then, it is the callousness that comes with people who must cover up some broken aspect of themselves, whether that be their inability to deal with the discrepancy between military and civilian life or the horror that is the quick and unexpected departure of the flesh that is a requisite part of war that veterans have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
May 28, 2022
For me, what stood out most about this collection of short stories (of which I've only now finally finished though it was published almost ten years ago!) is how much veterans want to write, mostly it seems, about the journey home. Reintegration into society, coping with memories, struggling to communicate what is impossible for them to communicate. It's like coming home is another bomb going off in their lives, only the shrapnel spreads to friends and family members and to their relationship to American society as a whole.
I say that because most of these stories take place post-deployment (I counted only four, I think, that actually take place in country) but what happened on deployment is still very much a part of their lives and seems to form the central struggle of many of their stories.
It's a great volume, not meant to be comprehensive, I don't think, but meant to try and communicate the particular emptiness and disillusionment many recent veterans have felt on returning home.
Most of the stories end on an ambiguous note and most are not lighthearted in any way to say the least. Best read one or two stories at a time, not straight through. For most civilians, I'd imagine this would be considered one of those "necessary" reads in order for them to get an idea of "what it's like" to be a veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan (but mostly Iraq).
Recommend picking it up.
I say that because most of these stories take place post-deployment (I counted only four, I think, that actually take place in country) but what happened on deployment is still very much a part of their lives and seems to form the central struggle of many of their stories.
It's a great volume, not meant to be comprehensive, I don't think, but meant to try and communicate the particular emptiness and disillusionment many recent veterans have felt on returning home.
Most of the stories end on an ambiguous note and most are not lighthearted in any way to say the least. Best read one or two stories at a time, not straight through. For most civilians, I'd imagine this would be considered one of those "necessary" reads in order for them to get an idea of "what it's like" to be a veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan (but mostly Iraq).
Recommend picking it up.
December 9, 2022
It's actually a 2-star book with a few 4/5-star short stories. After the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a lot of US combat veterans began writing to describe their experiences. Castner, Klay, Gallagher, and many others wrote books that varied in their literary strengths but brought home the soldiers' experiences effectively. This book, Fire and Forget, is a collection of short stories and it showcases the early work of some of the aforementioned veteran authors. Most of them read like lit class assignments, more expungement and sweat than insight, though the authors' pain shines through each. The exceptions are Fallon's and Klay's stories, with Fallon's offering one of the sharpest takes on partner's experiences of combat veterans' returns that I've read, an incisive, ironic, harshly funny complement to Thank You For Your Service and other books and films about homecoming.
January 20, 2019
An anthology of stories written by people who were either in Afghanistan, Iraq, or their spouses. Like all anthology collections, some stories are better than other, but I don't think any story received lower than 3 stars from me. The stories are raw, gritty, and honest - some take place while the character is deployed, while others deal with the after effects of their deployment while back in the US. Everything from Rules of Engagement to PTSD to families trying their best to understand what happened to their loved one to the mundane everyday of guard duty. Even with the topical and emotional scope the anthology never loses sight of the heart of the book - brutally honest stories that delve deep into the psyches of soldiers and a system that is failing them.
November 3, 2018
Not sure how to rate a collection involving so many authors. Some were outstanding (in particular “Poughkeepsie” and “The Wave That Takes Them Under” stand out in my mind). Some didn’t connect as much with me (“And Bugs Don’t Bleed”). What I found interesting was revisiting Phil Klay’s story “Redeployment” which I found really good this time around. I remember liking it well enough when I read his collection by the same name, but got distracted by how all of the characters in the rest of his stories sounded similar to each other. Reading just one in isolation helped get rid of that distraction for me.
November 18, 2019
Like many collections of stories, this is a little uneven, although there are no straight-out clunkers. There are a few that are terrific: Phil Klay's "Redeployment," Siobhan Fallon's "Tips for a Smooth Transition," Brian Van Reet's "Big Two-Hearted Hunting Creek," and Gavin Ford Kovite's "When Engaging Targets, Remember." The last one mentioned does a form-reflects-the-content trick that's wholly original. When was the last time you read something wholly original?
December 8, 2020
This had been on my to-read list for a while now so I finally borrowed a copy from the library. I’d read other pieces by Brian Turner, David Abrams, Phil Klay and Matt Gallagher but had not yet read anything by the other authors in this collection.
My favorite stories were “Roll Call” and “Red Steel India.”
With only 15 stories, it’s a relatively fast read and something I would recommend.
My favorite stories were “Roll Call” and “Red Steel India.”
With only 15 stories, it’s a relatively fast read and something I would recommend.
January 28, 2019
4.5/5
Short stories about life at war and after - mostly set in Iraq; one by a military wife. A difficult read that gives the reader a variety of perspectives of military service and its challenges, especially the transition from war zone to civilian life. I have favorites but can't say I actively disliked any. A solid anthology.
Short stories about life at war and after - mostly set in Iraq; one by a military wife. A difficult read that gives the reader a variety of perspectives of military service and its challenges, especially the transition from war zone to civilian life. I have favorites but can't say I actively disliked any. A solid anthology.
May 19, 2023
It's hard to grade an anthology of short stories because of the multiple authors with varying degrees of talent. This book had a couple of 2's, more 3's & 4s, and a couple of excellent 5's. The only author in this bunch I was familiar with (& whom I greatly admire) had a so-so story.
December 15, 2025
3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Not usually my thing for sure. Read this for a class. Good, not great- maybe because it can get so repetitive. But I’d say overall I did like it. A standout story was New Me. Loved that one in particular.
Not usually my thing for sure. Read this for a class. Good, not great- maybe because it can get so repetitive. But I’d say overall I did like it. A standout story was New Me. Loved that one in particular.
Want to read
July 16, 2017Note: Contains a story by Siobhan Fallon (author of You Know When the Men Are Gone).
October 9, 2017
Not for the faint of heart. Frustratingly real.
July 26, 2019
The stand-out stories from this collection are "Redeployment" by Phil Klay, "New Me" by Andrew Slater, and the really unusual and marvelous "Play The Game" by Colby Buzzell.
August 19, 2019
Read to this one now and really enjoying it. I love writing style and everything Describe in this book.
September 9, 2019
Not easy to take in, but indispensable for understanding the war in Vietnam and the effects on the survivors and veterans.
December 7, 2020
A sobering collection of short stories by today's great war writers.
February 28, 2017
My rating is the average of how I rated each of the stories. My favorites were "Tips for a Smooth Transition," "The Train," "Television," and "When Engaging Targets, Remember."
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