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Disarmed: Unconventional Lessons from the World's Only One-Armed Special Forces Sharpshooter
The inspiring story of a young American who volunteered to fight in the Israel Defense Forces, lost his arm in combat, and then returned to the battlefield.
On January 8, 2009, Izzy Ezagui--a 19-year-old American who had enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)--lost his arm in a mortar attack on the border of the Gaza Strip. In this stirring memoir, full of chutzpah and dark humor, Izzy recounts his tortuous trek through rehabilitation to re-enlistment as a squad commander in the IDF. He became the only one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter.
This isn't a typical war chronicle. Izzy eschews macho bluster, steering clear of the usual hero tropes of most war memoirists. He wrote this book for his fellow millennials. Not necessarily those with military ambitions, but for everyone facing life's daily battles. His message is simple: if a self-described "nerd" and "one-armed basket case" like him can accomplish what he set his mind to, then anyone can become a hero in his or her own life.
Growing up in a religious household in Miami, his early life, plagued by self-doubt, family drama, and girl troubles, culminated in a life-changing terrorist attack he and his family barely escaped when he was thirteen. His search for direction eventually led him to that explosion on the Gaza border, changing his life forever.
In the midst of disaster, he discovered a deep well at his core, from which he could draw strength. Through his motivational speeches across the world, he encourages people to seek their own power, and to face whatever adversity life throws at them.
Combining refreshing candor with self-deprecating wit, Izzy's story will provoke readers to live up to their aspirations despite seemingly impossible odds.
On January 8, 2009, Izzy Ezagui--a 19-year-old American who had enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)--lost his arm in a mortar attack on the border of the Gaza Strip. In this stirring memoir, full of chutzpah and dark humor, Izzy recounts his tortuous trek through rehabilitation to re-enlistment as a squad commander in the IDF. He became the only one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter.
This isn't a typical war chronicle. Izzy eschews macho bluster, steering clear of the usual hero tropes of most war memoirists. He wrote this book for his fellow millennials. Not necessarily those with military ambitions, but for everyone facing life's daily battles. His message is simple: if a self-described "nerd" and "one-armed basket case" like him can accomplish what he set his mind to, then anyone can become a hero in his or her own life.
Growing up in a religious household in Miami, his early life, plagued by self-doubt, family drama, and girl troubles, culminated in a life-changing terrorist attack he and his family barely escaped when he was thirteen. His search for direction eventually led him to that explosion on the Gaza border, changing his life forever.
In the midst of disaster, he discovered a deep well at his core, from which he could draw strength. Through his motivational speeches across the world, he encourages people to seek their own power, and to face whatever adversity life throws at them.
Combining refreshing candor with self-deprecating wit, Izzy's story will provoke readers to live up to their aspirations despite seemingly impossible odds.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published March 20, 2018
About the author
Izzy Ezagui
2 books10 followersIzzy Ezagui, a decorated squad commander in the Israel Defense Forces, is the only soldier in the world who lost an arm in combat and returned to the battlefield. In 2011, former President Shimon Peres awarded him one of Israel's highest military honors. While he continues to serve in an elite unit in the reserves, Izzy delivers inspirational talks across the United States and internationally. He's appeared on the Huffington Post Live, Al Jazeera America, and Fox News. He also raises millions of dollars for hospitals, rehabilitation programs, and other charities, such as the Birthright Foundation. He has worked with amputee organization, schools, colleges, universities, hedge funds, and corporate events for companies such as Nike and Apple.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 19, 2018
I’m not usually the biggest fan of memoirs, but I was captivated the whole time. This book is hilarious. From the chapter titles, to sub-headers, to every little self-deprecating joke, Ezagui’s personality just comes off the page. It’s unreal how much I feel like I’m having a conversation with him when I read this. His ability to make his reader laugh and feel at ease when he’s talking about something serious is very rare. There were many times I held my breath expecting the worst, when he slid in a small joke—not enough to break me out of the moment, but just enough to say “hey, it’s okay. We’re both going to get through this together, just wait.” Ezagui is so alive in every sentence and it’s impossible not to cheer him on the whole time.
June 7, 2018
What a phenomenal story about a phenomenal life still in progress. In this inspirational memoir, Izzy Ezagui, a well-known American IDF soldier who lost an arm in combat years ago, leads us readers through his funny and often painful coming-of-age. He is awkward, funny, brave, strong, and never boring. He touches us with his tenderness (his respect for his parents, his uncertainty with women), craziness (injuring his own foot - on purpose), toughness (rescuing a drowning girl despite having one arm), and smarts (becoming a commander of an elite unit - with only one arm). I was moved by his dedication to his family, his loyalty to a controversial country and cause, and his rising through the military ranks. He is not a quitter. Hopefully, he will put out more books in the future.
April 8, 2018
Izzy was a comic-book reading video-game playing Miami teenager who decided to join the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) to fight the terrorists. The threat from the terrorists was far more immediate there. And, repelling the deadly rocket attacks from Hamas, his team took gunfire and shrapnel and when he raised his arm over his head, it fell off. After long months of recovery, he decided to -against all advice - to relearn how to button his pants one handed and to fire a rifle with one hand.
The book opens with Izzy rescuing a swimmer who had drifted out to sea - a rescue performed one handed no less. It then drifts back and forth between his teenage years and his recovery in the VA hospital and his memories of basic training. At times, the narrative shifts were a little confusing. And, there's a bit of stream of consciousness as he struggled to recover in the hospital and to feel whole again even without his arm.
This is not a war story and there's no politics here despite its locale in the turbulent Mideast. Instead, it's a personal story about overcoming challenges and growing up.
The book opens with Izzy rescuing a swimmer who had drifted out to sea - a rescue performed one handed no less. It then drifts back and forth between his teenage years and his recovery in the VA hospital and his memories of basic training. At times, the narrative shifts were a little confusing. And, there's a bit of stream of consciousness as he struggled to recover in the hospital and to feel whole again even without his arm.
This is not a war story and there's no politics here despite its locale in the turbulent Mideast. Instead, it's a personal story about overcoming challenges and growing up.
February 17, 2018
Insightful, witty, charming, and revealing. This no holds barred dive into the author's extraordinary journey had me laughing, cringing, and most importantly captivated by his spirit, determination, and outlook on life. I even dropped my phone bumping into a construction barrier while reading between the subway and my office because I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to the author's future projects.
March 29, 2018
Izzy Ezagui had the perfect excuse not to serve in the IDF a second time. He lost his arm to mortar fire in a tent that took life and limbs of his battalion. The harrowing scene of Izzy's losing his arm is recalled in graphic detail, along with the agonizing months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. So why did a Jewish boy from Miami join the Israeli Defense Forces straight out of high school? It's
question Izzy asks himself. He tells us from the get-go that his father is in prison. Their complex relationship--the adoration of a son for a convicted felon who had dashed the dreams of forty would-be homeowners in the Chabad Lubavich community of Crown Heights is a sub-plot that Izzy deftly develops throughout the book. When he says he'd gladly serve half his father's prison term if such an option were available, we believe him. What we learn about Izzy is that despite his superhuman way of rising to one impossibly tough challenge after another--saving a drowning woman in the seas of Herzelia with one arm, preparing for re-entry into active duty as an IDF soldier second time around by teaching himself how to cock and shoot his rifle with his one remaining dominant hand, drinking himself into an alcoholic nightmare in Thailand and then coming out of it realizing how close to self-destruction he had come, Izzy doesn't pretend that everything in his life is okay. He suffers and the reader suffers with him. And yet Disarmed is full of clever words strung together to touch the soul. Izzy's Orthodox Jewish background is intriguing. He doesn't discuss it in depth which means that this young writer's big heart and connection to the Big Guy in the Sky could make for a compelling next memoir.
question Izzy asks himself. He tells us from the get-go that his father is in prison. Their complex relationship--the adoration of a son for a convicted felon who had dashed the dreams of forty would-be homeowners in the Chabad Lubavich community of Crown Heights is a sub-plot that Izzy deftly develops throughout the book. When he says he'd gladly serve half his father's prison term if such an option were available, we believe him. What we learn about Izzy is that despite his superhuman way of rising to one impossibly tough challenge after another--saving a drowning woman in the seas of Herzelia with one arm, preparing for re-entry into active duty as an IDF soldier second time around by teaching himself how to cock and shoot his rifle with his one remaining dominant hand, drinking himself into an alcoholic nightmare in Thailand and then coming out of it realizing how close to self-destruction he had come, Izzy doesn't pretend that everything in his life is okay. He suffers and the reader suffers with him. And yet Disarmed is full of clever words strung together to touch the soul. Izzy's Orthodox Jewish background is intriguing. He doesn't discuss it in depth which means that this young writer's big heart and connection to the Big Guy in the Sky could make for a compelling next memoir.
February 6, 2018
Disarmed: Unconventional Lessons from the World's Only One-Armed Special Forces Sharpshooter
by Izzy Ezagui is a story that shows how one young man does not let a horrible life changing event keep him from doing what he wants. It is an account of an American Jew who takes you into his time in the Israeli Defense forces and leaves a little piece of himself with the reader. It is a must read for those who need to see that you can do whatever you want if you want it bad enough. It is well written and keeps your attention.
I receives a copy thru a Goodreads Giveaway.
by Izzy Ezagui is a story that shows how one young man does not let a horrible life changing event keep him from doing what he wants. It is an account of an American Jew who takes you into his time in the Israeli Defense forces and leaves a little piece of himself with the reader. It is a must read for those who need to see that you can do whatever you want if you want it bad enough. It is well written and keeps your attention.
I receives a copy thru a Goodreads Giveaway.
May 5, 2019
Sadly Izzi is not the only IDF soldier to lose a limb in action. He is quite unconventional in terms of how his own story and the resolve to return to a combat role. The story is also told in a unconventional way in terms of the prose and the continuous looping back into his childhood. A fascinating window into the dedication of non-Israeli boys and girls that decide to volunteer and serve in the IDF, something that as Izzi notes in passing is sometimes hard to explain in words but easy to understand with the heart.
March 22, 2020
Izzy's story is not only inspiring, it's quite intriguing and - in some ways - quite relatable. This is not the story of some macho man or a gun-crazed dude, rather it's the story of inner perseverance and moral triumph. Regardless of your political or religious stance, this book has something to teach you. You will laugh and cry and, most importantly, learn the true power of will. With a strong sense of purpose, anything is achievable and this is just one of the many lessons I learned from this book.
February 14, 2018
I could not put this book down, absolutely phenomenal! The story is inspiring and timely while being timeless. The author manages to provide advice and lessons learned, without preaching or telling a reader how to think. "Disarmed" will speak to any reader who is trying to overcome a challenge; conquer a fear; or is looking to be inspired. I look forward to more titles from this talented author. Very well done, thank you!
May 23, 2018
I was lucky enough to hear Izzy speak in the summer of 2015 at a summer retreat. A friend brought him out and recommended that I hear his presentation.
He is the most adorable, captivating young man! I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation, speech and slide show.
I had no idea he'd write a book, too, and when it came out, I could not wait to get a copy! I read it in just a few hours, discussed it with my family, and enjoyed the pictures too.
Recommended!
For the record - if and when the movie comes out - I will be first in line for that, too !!!
He is the most adorable, captivating young man! I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation, speech and slide show.
I had no idea he'd write a book, too, and when it came out, I could not wait to get a copy! I read it in just a few hours, discussed it with my family, and enjoyed the pictures too.
Recommended!
For the record - if and when the movie comes out - I will be first in line for that, too !!!
June 15, 2018
After meeting Izzy at a conference earlier this year and given the book I wanted to learn more about his story. At times his writing style was a bit difficult for me, and it was hard for me to also follow his thoughts in the page. Nonetheless his story is inspiring and I wish there would be some sort of video made on this inspirational autobiography.
November 30, 2021
Very eye opening and captivating read! Almost a surreal insight in the IDF and one man's perseverance, overcoming the odds and struggle to wean off opioids. Izzy writes with a sharp sense of humor. Not wrong that his style is perfect for millenials, but readers of all ages should like this book. Def recommend.
September 6, 2018
Amazing story
Amazing story of a young American who has decided to link his life with Israel. I was impressed by the honesty in his story. Telling the good and the bad things without hiding anything.
Amazing story of a young American who has decided to link his life with Israel. I was impressed by the honesty in his story. Telling the good and the bad things without hiding anything.
April 25, 2019
The book was exciting, gripping and excessively disorganized. That last quibble is minor; perhaps that's what happens when memoirs are not largely written by ghostwriters. The book in many ways reminds me of Hunter Thomson, Israeli-style.
June 4, 2018
You can't really 'rate' someone's personal story...
June 19, 2018
This guy is amazing!!!! What a wonderful story of overcoming his loss of his arm. He has heart, and I was cheering for him, the whole way.
July 12, 2018
a good read. I look forward to future books from this author.
January 16, 2020
Did not finish. An impressive story but found it difficult to get through.
February 12, 2024
Interesting and insightful, but the vulgarity won't allow me to give this book a higher rating.
Read
June 30, 2018This read as a disjointed narrative. I’m sorry if that’s insensitive.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews