Maggot

by Robert Flanagan

mass market paperback

Genres: Fiction, War

Paperback

Published January 1, 1971

About the author

Robert Flanagan (1941–) is an author and playwright. He was the Director of Creative Writing at Ohio Wesleyan University for 30 years before retiring to write full time.

Flanagan joined the U.S. Marine Corps reserve shortly after high school, and went through boot camp at Parris Island. After leaving the service, he received his B.A. from the University of Toledo and his M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Flanagan's fiction has been collected in anthologies such as The Norton Book of American Short Stories, Best Ohio Fiction, and Ohio Short Fiction. His first book, "Maggot," about his experience in the military. He has also published five chapbooks of poetry.

Flanagan is the author of the full-length plays "Jupus Redeye" and "Volleys."

Reviews

[Kit Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to relive the first half of Full Metal Jacket but in novel form? Then this is the book for you, maggot. Sadistic drill instructors, institutionalized humiliation, all that fun stuff and more to be had on gay ol' Paris Island.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Army basic training in 1974 was pretty tough, and I got kicked in the butt (literally) a few times, but it wasn't anything like this (and was about 3 weeks shorter, too, which makes a big difference when you're just trying to hang on).
You just have to respect anyone who can go through all this and survive reasonably intact. That is the essence of the Marines---they can take anything, and will. Recruits start learning about that reputation right away, and have to live up to it or they're out. They have to learn how to suffer without whimpering.
It's worth bearing in mind that most boot-camp inmates were children just a few years earlier. Most of them are not yet fully mature. So the basic-training experience is a real shock to the system. Recruits confront many realities for the first time, and the environment they're in makes those realities especially harsh. They do have the advantage of being more physically and mentally adaptable than full-fledged adults. But they are less capable of putting what is happening to them in context.
The novel surprised me. On first picking it up (my wife brought it home in a box of books from a thrift shop), I didn't think it would be nearly as good as it is. It's written well and unpretentiously. It poses interesting moral questions and explores them thoroughly. The main characters---two drill sergeants and two "maggots"---have depth and are intriguing. And, the novel is entertaining and keeps you turning pages as the tensions build.
One of the better books I've read in a while.

[Downward · Rating 3 out of 5]

a book about peculiar values as they pertain to courage and loyalty. it's a book about the relationship between a platoon and their drill instructor, and follows the increasing abuse and the questioning of the purpose of that abuse (does the abuse make the marine's stronger, tougher, more loyal to each other, can you bond over the abuse and if so doesn't that make abuse worth it and if so why so if not why not). The book is surprising in its characterizations, which makes for internally rich characters. It also does the expected boring thing instead of making the novel a crescendo of heroics that ends with a speech about morality. this makes it an unfunny book. that's ok. it's better probably. heroics make things like boot camp on Paris Island SEEM heroic; and that heroism in a uniform is the kind of propaganda that the book doesn't allow itself. It's (I'm assuming! full disclosure, I am not a marine!) a realistic portrayal of these emotions, this hopeless.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it after navy boot camp and while I was attending sonar school in San Diego. That was 1972. Hard to remember the plot or any details, but I do remember that I thought it was a really good read (a twenty-year old's opinion). Might have to read it again.

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

here it is october 22nd 2011 and just now i recall reading this book years ago, in paperback...and i believe it was 1977....i was attending a school for radar operators...great lakes illinois...maggot...

wish i could recall where i found my copy...perhaps on base, perhaps the chicago train station downtown...they must have a name for it...i knew it as the train station, cigar smells, tobacco nonetheless...paperbacks in a wire rack and some time to kill before boarding to head back...

i've had a few nightmares since serving...dreams where i'm back and i'm wondering wtf, over? wtf you doing, dude?

and me, heh! well best make the best of it....the time will pass.

but then i've known marines (whud the "crap" say when it hit the fan?....marine!.....*rimshot*)

i've known marines who have nightmares not about being in again, but about being back in boot camp.

that is what this is about.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this in the summer of '75. I also remember that I really enjoyed it. Now I wish that my copy of it would (magically) reappear so I could read it again... *sigh** ...but, just for that privilege, I'll probably have to find a used book dealer and relinquish more cash than I'd care to.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another, the DI is over-the-top type of novel. At least some of the other characters are more fleshed out. The JDI could have been a better counterpoint to the actions of the DI. And there was an attempt at some balance in outlooks.

[Rossvassilev1976 · Rating 4 out of 5]

a novel about the brutality of life at the Parris Island Marine Training Base from a guy who served there

[Gossamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Great read - intense, infuriating, and compelling. I NEVER want to join the Marines.

[Dmack · Rating 3 out of 5]

story about what its like to be in the marines