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Freaks of a Feather: A Marine Grunt's Memoir
2023 Eugene Sledge Award winner for best Marine Corps memoir of the past three yearsKacy Tellessen is a grunt. After completing high school in rural Washington, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and began the hero's journey he imagined might parallel those epic tales he'd consumed throughout adolescence. But what Tellessen lived through--from boot camp to the battlefield and home again--had little in common with Homer's tales or Hollywood's depictions.In his memoir, Tellessen offers a truer account of life as an the complicated, conflicting, adrenaline-pumping, and traumatic experience of war. Though much of our country's fighting and dying is done by infantry members, few accounts detail the grunt experience with as much clarity and vulnerability as Freaks of a Feather.Kacy was born in Spokane and raised in Spangle, Washington, a small farming community that clings to the edge of the Palouse. Kacy joined the Marine Corps infantry directly out of high school and deployed twice to Iraq as an Infantry machine gunner with Second Battalion, Third Marines from 2005-2009. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Zero-Dark-Thirty literary journal, as well as the SOFLETE website.Praise for Freaks of a "One of the very best grunt's eye perspectives on combat that I've ever read....Kacy Tellessen absolutely blew me away. Amazing writing, profound insights and an incredibly powerful story."--Sebastian Junger, #1 NY Times Bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, A Death in Belmont, and Tribe"Powerful prose, honest and humble. Only a Marine could write this. I’d be proud to have Kacy in my gun-team. Semper Fi."--Johnnie Clark, author of the bestselling military classic Guns Up!"As introspective as he is entertaining, Tellessen uses a captivating blend of muscular and minimalistic prose to give us an uncomfortably honest look at where courage and nature diverge. Freaks of a Feather immediately separates itself from the litany of exploitative military accounts by avoiding political grandstanding or vicarious violence in favor of a remarkably intimate and often heart-pounding narrative. Despite this being his debut, Tellessen is able to use the deft touch of a seasoned writer to relay his story in a way that feels universal and yet wholly personal. This book will stay at the front of my mind and my shelf for years to come."--James Wade, Spur Award-winning author of All Things Left Wild and River, Sing Out
"Tellessen’s memoir opens at the cyclic rate and never lets up. Freaks of a Feather is a book that you’ll stick in your cargo pocket and never leave more than one arm’s distance until you’ve read it cover-to-cover."--Major Thomas Schueman, USMC infantry officer and English instructor at the Naval Academy"If there is such a thing as literary justice, you will find [Tellessen's] beautiful, brutal truth shelved alongside Sledge and Leckie and O’Brien.”--Lieutenant Colonel Russell Worth Parker, USMC, retired"Powerful. Poetic. Honest. You will not find a victim or a hero in these pages. Instead, you get a regular grunt’s view of the dangerous, tedious Iraq war without fanfare or histrionics. This is how you write a war memoir. A must read for military and civilian alike.
"Tellessen’s memoir opens at the cyclic rate and never lets up. Freaks of a Feather is a book that you’ll stick in your cargo pocket and never leave more than one arm’s distance until you’ve read it cover-to-cover."--Major Thomas Schueman, USMC infantry officer and English instructor at the Naval Academy"If there is such a thing as literary justice, you will find [Tellessen's] beautiful, brutal truth shelved alongside Sledge and Leckie and O’Brien.”--Lieutenant Colonel Russell Worth Parker, USMC, retired"Powerful. Poetic. Honest. You will not find a victim or a hero in these pages. Instead, you get a regular grunt’s view of the dangerous, tedious Iraq war without fanfare or histrionics. This is how you write a war memoir. A must read for military and civilian alike.
- GenresNonfiction
268 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 19, 2021
24 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 20, 2023
Recommended reading for any Marine. Open, honest and powerful story.
December 21, 2023
One of the greatest service memoirs of all time. Freaks of a Feather should be required reading for all Marine veterans.
April 20, 2025
I really enjoyed the writing and self-examination of this young man from the greater Spokane area who lived out his dream of being a Marine “grunt”. He searched for identity, pursuing a hero’s journey even though he knew he was anything but a hero. His life-changing journey, figuring out who he really was and building a life around the identity is a journey that anyone can relate with.
January 12, 2024
I had low hopes for the actual composition of this book but I was very pleasantly surprised. *some language and graphic war detail
February 11, 2025
Brief summary: This is a memoir by a young man, focused on his youth in Eastern Washington, facination with the Illiad and war novels, leading to his enilsting into the Marine Corps and subsequently deploying twice to Iraq as an machinegunner/infantryman. The story also briefely details his post Marine Corps experiences.
I immediately noted the author’s modest and self deprecating nature. He’s not afraid to mock his own acts of pretension, especially in his school years where he describes suffering from a serious lack of confidence, despite being a football player and honors student. Obviously he is proud of his accomplishments, but he downplays his academic record by noting he came from a small town and school, and his athleticism by stating he was just a fat kid, posing in order to hide that fact. Its very easy to like him and empathize; only the truly arrogant were not riddled with self concious doubts about themlelves as teens.
I found the story different than most war/military memoirs; this one is much more personal, even though it retains the military experiences as a focus. For example, the early chapters which focus on why the author enlisted, talk only a little about those things that shaped him unless he is showing how it lead him to enlisting. Everything he descibes is discussed in that context. So it stays true to being a military/war memoir rather than a memoir in general, yet it still feels very personal because he goes into such depths on these things that brought him there, and it goes beyond generic phrases like patriotitism, sevice, 9/11, etc… There is a great contrast when we read as he descibes all these things that led him to that path, yet when it comes time to explain it to his parents, his mind is a blank. As he will show much later, its often easier to write deep thoughts and feelings than to voice them to those close to you.
It just felt different than most of the memoirs I have read, which includes many he also read in his youth (Marine Sniper, With the Old Breed, Guns Up, etc…). A couple great memoirs I read, Fortunate Son, and Born on the Fourth of July, the authors seemed to give scant cursory attention to the why they enlisted (Fortunate Son being the memoir of Chesty Puller’s son, Born on the Fouth of July made into the Oliver Stone/Tom Cruise film). I wonder if that is due to those books being written by the authors later in their lives when those events were so much more distant vs this author’s, where he’s still contemplating it all.
The boot camp and SOI chapters… well they are what they are. Frankly they felt a bit long, but thats just me. I’ve been there and have read about it enough. While everyone’s experience is unique, overall the training is not, that’s the point of it. So I think he could have been a little more brief. I get there are readers who need all this info, but I think many if not most of the readers of this book do not. I just feel there is a happy medium and he missed it a little in this section, it dragged on. Him recapping how he carried the .50cal receiver on the final forced march, which I assume included up and over Mt MotherF…… felt a little like silly bragging of the ‘I was the guide in bootcamp’ variety, but I have to concede that its insanely impressive.
The work-up chapters are similar to the boot/SOI chapters in that while all experiences are unique, overall they are all the same. But he did a better job here focusing on the unique, those personal to him.
Its his first tour in Iraq where the meat of this book lies. Holy crap, he really conveyed the experience and his emotions well. This time period in Iraq was some of the worst fighting, the worst casualties, it was just a horrible time. He writes again in a personal way, not shying away from being descriptive because that is the only way to share his feelings and experiences; all while showing honor and respect when describing the deaths of fellow Marines; real people with really families who might read this. That can be difficult, I’ve read books where it is done poorly, but he does it better than many. You can tell he worked on this to do it right.
Chapters upon his return were also very intimate, showing his difficulty knowing what to say and how to act around others who didn’t just experience this insanely emotionally taxing time.
The chapter on his second deployment was not done well, it felt rushed and incomplete. Perhaps he feels there was less of impact that happened… but then why even write a chapter on it? He apparently couldn’t even recall the name of the village he was in, nor bother to research it and figure it out. Very bizare. He had some good insights however, commenting on the eerie quiet he witnessed on this deployment as he worried about his marines becoming complacent; “the bogeyman fades from memory of he never sticks his hand out from beneath the bed to grab a foot.” And that happens and again he handles describing it well. But as I’ve noted, this is more of a personal story than a traditional war memoir, so I guess this chapter is just reflective of how the author feels and reflects on this period.
The final chapters are very well done. The author gets very personal sharing his thoughts and experiences which is hard to do. I believe he really had to hit rock bottom to have what it takes to do this. He is frank but avoids melodrama, which is hard because its those same elements in our minds that torture us, but when written, whether in fiction of non-fiction, are inevitably seen as melodramatic. But that doesn’t mean our minds don’t actually go there.
The writing is good; not great, but it shows the author has talent. Its better than you find in many memoirs, even some where there was a “professional” writer involved. I hope this author keeps writing. I think I noticed one grammar mistake, I think it was the use of the word “regiment” when the word “regimen” was intended, the context was around his excercise routine as a poolee. Likely a spellcheck usage mistake, not a surprise in a book about the military where he probably mentioned his regiment in other sections and just changed it without thinking.
This book is a 4/5 stars for me, one of the better military/war memoirs out there.
I immediately noted the author’s modest and self deprecating nature. He’s not afraid to mock his own acts of pretension, especially in his school years where he describes suffering from a serious lack of confidence, despite being a football player and honors student. Obviously he is proud of his accomplishments, but he downplays his academic record by noting he came from a small town and school, and his athleticism by stating he was just a fat kid, posing in order to hide that fact. Its very easy to like him and empathize; only the truly arrogant were not riddled with self concious doubts about themlelves as teens.
I found the story different than most war/military memoirs; this one is much more personal, even though it retains the military experiences as a focus. For example, the early chapters which focus on why the author enlisted, talk only a little about those things that shaped him unless he is showing how it lead him to enlisting. Everything he descibes is discussed in that context. So it stays true to being a military/war memoir rather than a memoir in general, yet it still feels very personal because he goes into such depths on these things that brought him there, and it goes beyond generic phrases like patriotitism, sevice, 9/11, etc… There is a great contrast when we read as he descibes all these things that led him to that path, yet when it comes time to explain it to his parents, his mind is a blank. As he will show much later, its often easier to write deep thoughts and feelings than to voice them to those close to you.
It just felt different than most of the memoirs I have read, which includes many he also read in his youth (Marine Sniper, With the Old Breed, Guns Up, etc…). A couple great memoirs I read, Fortunate Son, and Born on the Fourth of July, the authors seemed to give scant cursory attention to the why they enlisted (Fortunate Son being the memoir of Chesty Puller’s son, Born on the Fouth of July made into the Oliver Stone/Tom Cruise film). I wonder if that is due to those books being written by the authors later in their lives when those events were so much more distant vs this author’s, where he’s still contemplating it all.
The boot camp and SOI chapters… well they are what they are. Frankly they felt a bit long, but thats just me. I’ve been there and have read about it enough. While everyone’s experience is unique, overall the training is not, that’s the point of it. So I think he could have been a little more brief. I get there are readers who need all this info, but I think many if not most of the readers of this book do not. I just feel there is a happy medium and he missed it a little in this section, it dragged on. Him recapping how he carried the .50cal receiver on the final forced march, which I assume included up and over Mt MotherF…… felt a little like silly bragging of the ‘I was the guide in bootcamp’ variety, but I have to concede that its insanely impressive.
The work-up chapters are similar to the boot/SOI chapters in that while all experiences are unique, overall they are all the same. But he did a better job here focusing on the unique, those personal to him.
Its his first tour in Iraq where the meat of this book lies. Holy crap, he really conveyed the experience and his emotions well. This time period in Iraq was some of the worst fighting, the worst casualties, it was just a horrible time. He writes again in a personal way, not shying away from being descriptive because that is the only way to share his feelings and experiences; all while showing honor and respect when describing the deaths of fellow Marines; real people with really families who might read this. That can be difficult, I’ve read books where it is done poorly, but he does it better than many. You can tell he worked on this to do it right.
Chapters upon his return were also very intimate, showing his difficulty knowing what to say and how to act around others who didn’t just experience this insanely emotionally taxing time.
The chapter on his second deployment was not done well, it felt rushed and incomplete. Perhaps he feels there was less of impact that happened… but then why even write a chapter on it? He apparently couldn’t even recall the name of the village he was in, nor bother to research it and figure it out. Very bizare. He had some good insights however, commenting on the eerie quiet he witnessed on this deployment as he worried about his marines becoming complacent; “the bogeyman fades from memory of he never sticks his hand out from beneath the bed to grab a foot.” And that happens and again he handles describing it well. But as I’ve noted, this is more of a personal story than a traditional war memoir, so I guess this chapter is just reflective of how the author feels and reflects on this period.
The final chapters are very well done. The author gets very personal sharing his thoughts and experiences which is hard to do. I believe he really had to hit rock bottom to have what it takes to do this. He is frank but avoids melodrama, which is hard because its those same elements in our minds that torture us, but when written, whether in fiction of non-fiction, are inevitably seen as melodramatic. But that doesn’t mean our minds don’t actually go there.
The writing is good; not great, but it shows the author has talent. Its better than you find in many memoirs, even some where there was a “professional” writer involved. I hope this author keeps writing. I think I noticed one grammar mistake, I think it was the use of the word “regiment” when the word “regimen” was intended, the context was around his excercise routine as a poolee. Likely a spellcheck usage mistake, not a surprise in a book about the military where he probably mentioned his regiment in other sections and just changed it without thinking.
This book is a 4/5 stars for me, one of the better military/war memoirs out there.
November 20, 2023
Personal and gripping. Even without the title, ranks, and units you would be able to tell this was written by a Marine. At times it felt as if I had written the words myself. I’m glad I finally got around to reading this wonderful and raw memoir and recommend it to any and all willing to read it.
October 8, 2022
A must read, especially for anyone who has served in uniform. Easily one of my new all time favorites!!! Do yourself a favor and read this book.
April 29, 2023
Like Kacy, I'm a lover of reading, but his love lead him to be a Marine. After reading his memoir, I know he was born to be a Marine, but also a writer. His personal story is raw and paints a picture that made me feel like his friend, like I lived this right along side him. It took me on an emotional roller coaster ride and I felt all the feels. I laughed, cried and had to walk away a few times, because of the heaviness of the events. Kacy didn't have that option, so he started writing his story. I'm a believer of release in a variety of forms; writing, music, movement... I hope this process has helped him heal and in turn helps others do the same. I would feel remiss if I didn't mention the beauty of the love he has for his wife (and children). I hope Kacy continues to share his gift with others. If there is anything he has in the works, I want to pre-order it now. Highly recommended you move Freaks of a Feather to the top of your TBR list.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2021
If you are someone looking for a military memoir that:
a) is "War on Terror" era
b) is not focused on the highlights, but the actual internal structure of a military person's mind
you need to read this.
If you are a military spouse, family member, best friend, you need to read this.
We will never understand the things these men and women are going through just to protect our country. But it is our duty to try to understand. Kacy Tellessen is letting us in, a rare opportunity that doesn't come around in either books or in real life.
If you're going to read a military memoir, absolutely start with this one.
a) is "War on Terror" era
b) is not focused on the highlights, but the actual internal structure of a military person's mind
you need to read this.
If you are a military spouse, family member, best friend, you need to read this.
We will never understand the things these men and women are going through just to protect our country. But it is our duty to try to understand. Kacy Tellessen is letting us in, a rare opportunity that doesn't come around in either books or in real life.
If you're going to read a military memoir, absolutely start with this one.
July 5, 2022
I loved this book for its honesty. Tellesen joins the Marines out of high school because his favorite book is the Illiad. He starts out with an idealized notion of war, but that's not where he ends up. In tight, exceptional prose, we're given a bird's eye view of what it's really like to be in the Marines, who calls the shots and who doesn't, the randomness and hypocrisies of war, and the deep bonds formed. And we don't learn all of this from the point of view of an officer. We learn it through the eyes of an average grunt. No easy answers and no hype either. I trusted this narrator. And his story left me changed.
August 20, 2021
Excellent Book! Well worth the read!
1st, thank you for your service. 2nd, Kacy does a great job of using his wit and sly sense of humor to weave his tale of life as a marine. Hard as it may be. He really captures the grit, intensity, boredom and sadness he endured during his days in becoming a Marine and his tours in Iraq. Even though Kacys struggles are uniquely his own they can help anyone of us who has struggled in life from time to time, so read the damn book! Thanks Kacy
1st, thank you for your service. 2nd, Kacy does a great job of using his wit and sly sense of humor to weave his tale of life as a marine. Hard as it may be. He really captures the grit, intensity, boredom and sadness he endured during his days in becoming a Marine and his tours in Iraq. Even though Kacys struggles are uniquely his own they can help anyone of us who has struggled in life from time to time, so read the damn book! Thanks Kacy
November 26, 2021
Reality bites
Books of this nature have significant importance in that they give those of us who read them a true picture. We live in a world of video games and fantasy that allows innocent minds to believe they can be that gun wheedling hero that can vanquish all enemies. I witnessed many young men take the same path as the author of this book only to experience exactly what what is portrayed in this book. I would love to see all new recruits read this book prior to their enlistments so they could a least hear what a reality combat really is. Excellent book.
Books of this nature have significant importance in that they give those of us who read them a true picture. We live in a world of video games and fantasy that allows innocent minds to believe they can be that gun wheedling hero that can vanquish all enemies. I witnessed many young men take the same path as the author of this book only to experience exactly what what is portrayed in this book. I would love to see all new recruits read this book prior to their enlistments so they could a least hear what a reality combat really is. Excellent book.
December 1, 2021
I very much enjoyed it…
I enjoyed your book brother, I kinda went thru some of the same issues with a female while I was deployed to Somalia in the 90s, it really made me laugh out loud at some of the dumb things we say/write to women while deployed in a dangerous place and we really miss a girl, some of the things u wrote, I swear we’re right out of my mouth….. really funny….. I was with 7th Comm ( Bravo ) out of MCB Hawaii at the time…. Great book, wish u well and Semper Fidelis
I enjoyed your book brother, I kinda went thru some of the same issues with a female while I was deployed to Somalia in the 90s, it really made me laugh out loud at some of the dumb things we say/write to women while deployed in a dangerous place and we really miss a girl, some of the things u wrote, I swear we’re right out of my mouth….. really funny….. I was with 7th Comm ( Bravo ) out of MCB Hawaii at the time…. Great book, wish u well and Semper Fidelis
August 12, 2021
I am a former Marine, and I never served in combat. Give Mr. Tellesen a hundred pages and the last half will knock your socks off. His descriptors all ring true to my bs meter and he makes all of my brother's journeys into sandland accessible. Our tribe, our pack, is almost impossible for the uninitiated to penetrate but Kacy will get you there. I'm hoping this cat never puts his pen down, bravo leatherhead!
August 14, 2021
This book is much more than war. It’s an inside look into the sacrifices made of servicemen. It’s emotional, and moving, yet still humble. A theme throughout the book is the importance of literature to our society. Servicemen or not, it shows how much books mean to us. How even in a time of conflict we turn to the written word for an escape, a comfort, or even inspiration. I opened this book expecting blood & gore. I closed this book realizing that I’m not alone in my love for reading.
November 18, 2021
A fantastically written memoir of a USMC 0331 in Iraq. This book delivers exactly what it says it will- a young man’s journey from an insecure teen to a combat hardened grunt. More than that, though, it gives the reader a powerful glimpse into the combat induced baggage that Tellessen and many other grunts of his generation brought home with them. I look forward to reading more of this man’s work.
10/10, Very highly recommended.
10/10, Very highly recommended.
June 19, 2023
solid book on what life in war and the Marine Corps is about
The author has written a compelling story about his service to the country as Marine in Iraq. He has written a book that’s therapeutic in nature and more important, has immortalized his brother marines that died in combat. I hope he gets the help he needs and deserves in order to finally come home. I highly recommend this book, it’s a reminder of what war takes away from all of us. Welcome home Marine.
The author has written a compelling story about his service to the country as Marine in Iraq. He has written a book that’s therapeutic in nature and more important, has immortalized his brother marines that died in combat. I hope he gets the help he needs and deserves in order to finally come home. I highly recommend this book, it’s a reminder of what war takes away from all of us. Welcome home Marine.
February 2, 2022
Riveting
One of the best written and honest books of a combat veteran I have ever read.
The authors journalistic professionalism engages the reader to a point of immersion in the moment. Particularly a reader ,while not having experienced combat, nevertheless spent three years in the army infantry during one of the few times our country was not in a foreign conflict.
One of the best written and honest books of a combat veteran I have ever read.
The authors journalistic professionalism engages the reader to a point of immersion in the moment. Particularly a reader ,while not having experienced combat, nevertheless spent three years in the army infantry during one of the few times our country was not in a foreign conflict.
December 13, 2022
this is some amazing writing!
I’ve read tons of war books and this might be the best. The way he describes things and the metaphors he creates make this far more than a standard war book. It’s like some damn poetry. Amazing and beautiful war poetry. And I dont even like poetry! But I like this. A lot.
I’ve read tons of war books and this might be the best. The way he describes things and the metaphors he creates make this far more than a standard war book. It’s like some damn poetry. Amazing and beautiful war poetry. And I dont even like poetry! But I like this. A lot.
May 13, 2023
A great memoir from a Marine grunt who served two tours in Iraq. The author tells us his reasons for joining the Marines, what the training was like, day to day life and combat during his deployment, and what happens after he is discharged. The writing really surprised me; while I expected a basic account of Kacy's tours, his wording and prose are wonderfully delivered.
August 11, 2021
Exceptional Book Captures the Ethos of the Marine Corps
An excellent first novel by an extremely talented author.
It is most unfortunate that the faulty etrans program deterred the reader’s enjoyment. Where was the bloody proofreader?
An excellent first novel by an extremely talented author.
It is most unfortunate that the faulty etrans program deterred the reader’s enjoyment. Where was the bloody proofreader?
October 2, 2021
Even if you're not wounded physically, everyone who fought is a casualty.
A very well-written book. You can tell that he spent considerable time trying to choose the words carefully in an effort to convey what he had experienced.
A very well-written book. You can tell that he spent considerable time trying to choose the words carefully in an effort to convey what he had experienced.
March 22, 2022
A phenomenal addition to memoir writing. Kacy Tellessen brings an honest -- and sometimes brutal -- self-examination to the reader. This should be required reading for any class on memoir writing, and for anyone entering a field of work where combat veterans will be directly engaged.
April 7, 2022
This is a book worth reading. It held my interest throughout. It began with a soaring 75 cent word vocabulary, matched only incandescent idealism about warriors, from the Greeks on down. In the course of becoming an effective and cohesive group of machine gunners in Vietnam, Tellesen learns gruntspeak very well.
Like other soldiers, it is one thing to have survived and made it back to "the World" in enough of one piece to move forward in life, and it is another in the age of retirement to review, reflect on, and work all the arithmetic operatives on one's life in order to understand what he went through so many years ago in order to share it with kids, grand kids, and -- thankfully -- us.
Like other soldiers, it is one thing to have survived and made it back to "the World" in enough of one piece to move forward in life, and it is another in the age of retirement to review, reflect on, and work all the arithmetic operatives on one's life in order to understand what he went through so many years ago in order to share it with kids, grand kids, and -- thankfully -- us.
January 15, 2023
Kacy’s story delivers a powerful and important message. Reading this book might just help you understand what some veterans go through. Or if you have been there and done that, it may just help you understand yourself a little better. I read it on my IPad with IBooks.
January 27, 2025
raw. honest. brutally powerful. tellesen not only tells the tale of the Marine he was but that he examines the story of the Marine the from shady yellow footprints all the way to trash covered streets. one of a kind—riveting.
August 28, 2021
Interesting story about local boy who joins the Marines.
Hard to read in places but was good.
Hard to read in places but was good.
Read
October 8, 2021Good read, raw perspective on combat effects on our young men and women who volunteer to serve our country.
April 2, 2022
Five stars
An incredible insight into the quagmire that was iraq and the honest struggle of returning. An excellent book, likely the best writing about the war.
An incredible insight into the quagmire that was iraq and the honest struggle of returning. An excellent book, likely the best writing about the war.
October 22, 2022
A Fellow Grunt
Reading this was like going home. I did not have the same horror, but sure am familiar with the life of an infantry soldier.
Reading this was like going home. I did not have the same horror, but sure am familiar with the life of an infantry soldier.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews