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Wounded Warriors: Those for Whom the War Never Ends
Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell prided himself on being a hard-core Marine—a patriotic Devil Dog on his third tour of Iraq. Then his brain was shredded with mortar shrapnel.
Today, Maxwell has a large angry scar on the left side of his head. He forgets words, his wife has to read to him, and he drags one foot when he walks. Yet he works twelve-hour days as commander of the Wounded Warrior Barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. For these warriors, Iraq and Afghanistan will never quite be in the past. And the struggle never ends.
Other stories in Wounded Warriors depict life inside an L.A. crack gang, ex-pat Vietnam War veterans in Thailand, and five days in Las Vegas with basketball anti-hero Kobe Bryant—all of it captured stylishly by the writer who has been called “the beat poet of American journalism.”
261 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2008
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Mike Sager
34 books37 followersMike Sager is a best-selling author and award-winning reporter. A former Washington Post staff writer under Watergate investigator Bob Woodward, he worked closely, during his years as a contributing editor to Rolling Stone, with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Sager is the author of four collections of non-fiction, two novels, and one biography. He has served for more than fifteen years as a writer at large for Esquire. In 2010 he won the American Society of Magazine Editors’ National Magazine Award for profile writing for his article “The Man Who Never Was.” Many of his stories have been optioned for film. For more information, please see www.mikesager.com.
Sager is also the founding editor and publisher of The Sager Group. for more information, please see www.TheSagerGroup.Net.
Sager is also the founding editor and publisher of The Sager Group. for more information, please see www.TheSagerGroup.Net.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 16, 2009
Mike Sager is on a quest. In the collection of articles presented in Wounded Warriors, Sager seemingly invites the reader to observe the course of this hunt, and perhaps even to participate in a small way. While it is unclear what Sager is chasing after, he is hard at work looking for it, and at times it seems to be chasing him. Beginning in the end and jumping around, the reader watches as Sager obsesses about drugs, discovers his paternal instincts, is lured into the cult of Brando worship, and generally hangs out with all sorts of ne’er do wells, their antitheses, and everyone in between.
Well, not everyone. It is no surprise that Sager focuses on the male characters in each of his articles. Women are everywhere, but they are only tangential to the activities and states of the men in this collection. One example is of the fixation on the dishabille of Marlon Brando's women that Sager developed, first clothing then disrobing them in his story. The decision seems solely dependent on his relationship with Brando. The marginalization of the women is not ill begotten; it merely feels like a byproduct of Sager’s being a man.
In his articles, Sager connects with each of his characters in a unique way. Simultaneously occupying a transitory role and assuming omnipresence, Sager haunts each subject’s life and story. Sager seems to strive for acceptance, and so he becomes something different to each of his subjects, and at times nothing at all. Sager is always transient, leaving once acceptance is gained. He finds his material then he beats a path out of town. Sager himself recognizes the deceit, and seems to battle with his profession’s need for these contradictions and the exploitative nature of his writing.
It's alright Mike, we understand.
Review by Elisheva Zakheim
Well, not everyone. It is no surprise that Sager focuses on the male characters in each of his articles. Women are everywhere, but they are only tangential to the activities and states of the men in this collection. One example is of the fixation on the dishabille of Marlon Brando's women that Sager developed, first clothing then disrobing them in his story. The decision seems solely dependent on his relationship with Brando. The marginalization of the women is not ill begotten; it merely feels like a byproduct of Sager’s being a man.
In his articles, Sager connects with each of his characters in a unique way. Simultaneously occupying a transitory role and assuming omnipresence, Sager haunts each subject’s life and story. Sager seems to strive for acceptance, and so he becomes something different to each of his subjects, and at times nothing at all. Sager is always transient, leaving once acceptance is gained. He finds his material then he beats a path out of town. Sager himself recognizes the deceit, and seems to battle with his profession’s need for these contradictions and the exploitative nature of his writing.
It's alright Mike, we understand.
Review by Elisheva Zakheim
November 5, 2011
Much like Chuck Klosterman's IV, this book is a collection of articles written over Mike Sager's career that, at first glance, appears to focus on veterans who have come back from battle changed. Unfortunately, the "wounded warriors" premise stretches pretty thin to include drug addicts (a warrior of addiction?), kids involved with dog fighting (warriors of poverty?) and Kobe Bryant (...I got nothing.), which ultimately takes away from what would appear to be an important work.
My favorite articles were the titular one about how Iraq war veterans deal with their injuries, be they emotional or physical and the story on the morbidly obese man who comes to terms with his obesity but still has to deal with everyone else's lack of acceptance of it. In both, the motif of the wounded warrior was clear, and he takes the subject matter seriously with a depth that isn't often found in the latter. He'll sometimes switch between his third person narrative to a first person account of the subject's experience, which most writers/reporters don't have the courage to do.
While I didn't care for a few of the stories (the Vietnam veterans sticking around Thailand felt cliche and the Marlon Brando article that ends the book was self-indulgent), I enjoyed his overall writing style and was curious how he managed to secure his access with some of his subjects. Sager gets in deep with the poor Dominican kids who engage in vicious dogfighting, and how he gained the access to a bunch of poverty stricken adolescents as a middle-aged white guy felt like a more interesting story than the one he was telling.
My favorite articles were the titular one about how Iraq war veterans deal with their injuries, be they emotional or physical and the story on the morbidly obese man who comes to terms with his obesity but still has to deal with everyone else's lack of acceptance of it. In both, the motif of the wounded warrior was clear, and he takes the subject matter seriously with a depth that isn't often found in the latter. He'll sometimes switch between his third person narrative to a first person account of the subject's experience, which most writers/reporters don't have the courage to do.
While I didn't care for a few of the stories (the Vietnam veterans sticking around Thailand felt cliche and the Marlon Brando article that ends the book was self-indulgent), I enjoyed his overall writing style and was curious how he managed to secure his access with some of his subjects. Sager gets in deep with the poor Dominican kids who engage in vicious dogfighting, and how he gained the access to a bunch of poverty stricken adolescents as a middle-aged white guy felt like a more interesting story than the one he was telling.
December 1, 2008
From my review for my newspaper, the Deseret News:
Mike Sager quit law school for a nowhere night job at the Washington Post. Eleven months later, Sager had climbed the ladder at the Post to staff writer, promoted by the metro editor at the time, one Bob Woodward.
Apparently, America's best journalist is also a great talent scout. Woodward has never written as compellingly as Sager does.
That's just one of many good reasons to read Sager's new book, "Wounded Warriors." The writing is crisp and clear in every one of the book's 11 chapters, each a reworked story previously published in one of America's best writers' magazines, from Rolling Stone to Esquire to GQ.
my link text
Mike Sager quit law school for a nowhere night job at the Washington Post. Eleven months later, Sager had climbed the ladder at the Post to staff writer, promoted by the metro editor at the time, one Bob Woodward.
Apparently, America's best journalist is also a great talent scout. Woodward has never written as compellingly as Sager does.
That's just one of many good reasons to read Sager's new book, "Wounded Warriors." The writing is crisp and clear in every one of the book's 11 chapters, each a reworked story previously published in one of America's best writers' magazines, from Rolling Stone to Esquire to GQ.
my link text
August 23, 2009
excellent collection of articles from the author's career - ranges from wounded war veterans to heroin addicts to teenagers who get kicks by fighting their pit-bulls to the death. gritty reality. not for everyone.
May 11, 2010
I really liked the short stories in this book. Many different interesting topics, war, Veterans, drugs, sport heroes and overweight people. I really enjoyed his writing style. I am not great at description so simply I would recommend this book as a summer read, but it is not light reading.
February 20, 2009
Collected magazine pieces. Amazing stuff.
October 27, 2015
It's a bit dated, the original articles being published between the mid-80s and early 2000s, but still interesting and very readable.
January 18, 2023
*3.5
A cool collection of articles the author wrote throughout his career. Some of them were tough to read because of the subject matter, but still very interesting, and good writing!
A cool collection of articles the author wrote throughout his career. Some of them were tough to read because of the subject matter, but still very interesting, and good writing!
September 26, 2012
The cover/title are a bit misleading because this is actually a collection of articles from Sager, who is a former Washington Post reporter and is currently a writer at large for Esquire.
The first, and longest, story is about wounded warriors and it’s very powerful. Reading this brought up so many emotions for me. I was amazed by battles they managed to live through, felt sorry for some of the shitty upbringings they had, angered by their “ugly American” and racist sides, amazed all over again with the number of medications they have to take and the kind of miserable “recoveries” they face, and felt warmly about the strong bond between them.
Besides the main story, Sager also includes some shocking articles about pre-teen Philadelphia dog fighters (kids that hurt/kill animals scare me hardcore), a morbidly obese man, people with the highest IQs in America, people addicted to various drugs, and more. Nothing in this book is quite “pretty” but it’s a fascinating read altogether.
The first, and longest, story is about wounded warriors and it’s very powerful. Reading this brought up so many emotions for me. I was amazed by battles they managed to live through, felt sorry for some of the shitty upbringings they had, angered by their “ugly American” and racist sides, amazed all over again with the number of medications they have to take and the kind of miserable “recoveries” they face, and felt warmly about the strong bond between them.
Besides the main story, Sager also includes some shocking articles about pre-teen Philadelphia dog fighters (kids that hurt/kill animals scare me hardcore), a morbidly obese man, people with the highest IQs in America, people addicted to various drugs, and more. Nothing in this book is quite “pretty” but it’s a fascinating read altogether.
September 24, 2015
It took me a little over a day to read this book. From searching for Marlon Brando to dog fights run by children to injured veterans from the Iraq War, Sager winds his way from one narrative to another. Some pieces don't feel like reporting, but far more literary, standalone stories. As a collection, there are, of course, some articles that fall a bit short. Overall, however, Sager has an immense gift for weaving an engaging narrative from start to finish. This isn't the first book I've read by him, and it certainly won't be the last. I'm torn between which stories I'd consider my favorite from this book: "Wounded Warriors", a piece that focuses on injured veterans from the Iraq War, or the disarming pathos of "Hunting Marlon Brando." If you're interested in reading something a little off the beaten path when it comes to editorials, I'd highly recommend this.
March 8, 2014
A few chapters are pretty interesting. I would hope later he will add an epilogue so we can find out what happens to some of the people in this book. Some of the articles are from so long ago that they seem almost irrelevant in this book.
February 27, 2013
Great collection of journal entries from Mike Sager, particularly the section about Wounded Warriors.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews