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My War: Killing Time in Iraq
' Once we passed the checkpoint at the border, it hit me. I was like, Holy Shit, this is it, I'm entering a combat zone. Cool! ' At twenty-six Colby Buzzell, unemployed and living at home, decided to join the US Army. Within months he was in Iraq, a machine gunner in the controversial Stryker Brigade Combat Team, an army unit on the cutting edge of combat technology and the first of its kind. Trapped amid 'guerrilla warfare, urban-style' in Mosul, Iraq, Buzzell was struck by the bizarre and often frightening world surrounding him. He began writing a blog describing the war - not as being reported by CNN or official briefings - but as experienced by the soldier on the ground. His story is a brutally honest and hard-hitting account of the absurdities of modern war. These are the real stories of the a firefight where the resistance came from 'men in black'; a night spent chain-smoking in the guard tower counting the tracer bullets being fired over the city; and the hesitation of a young soldier who had been passed around from platoon to platoon because he was too afraid to fight.
My War is a powerful story of a young man and a war, unlike any you have read before.
My War is a powerful story of a young man and a war, unlike any you have read before.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
29 people are currently reading
851 people want to read
About the author
Colby Buzzell
7 books55 followersColby Buzzell is the author of My War: Killing Time in Iraq, Lost In America: A Dead End Journey, and Thank You For Being Expendable & Other Experiences. Buzzell served as an infantryman in the United States Army during the Iraq War. Assigned to a Stryker Brigade Combat Team in 2003, Buzzell blogged from the front lines of Iraq as a replacement for his habitual journaling back in the states. In 2004 Buzzell was profiled in Esquire's "Best and Brightest" issue. In 2007, Buzzell received the 2007 Lulu Blooker Prize for My War: Killing Time in Iraq. The Washington Post in 2007 referred to his article "Digging a Hole All the Way to America" as "A Tour de Force Travelogue," and his article "Down & Out In Fresno and San Francisco" was selected for The Best American Travel Writing 2010. His work has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Penthouse, Time, The Bold Italic and on This American Life. Buzzell holds a B.A. in History from the University of West Virginia and is currently pursuing his MFA in Creative Writing at UCR Palm Desert. He currently lives in San Francisco, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
August 4, 2014
Colby Buzzell’s My War is very good. Buzzell manages to write without pretension; he doesn’t seem to engage in scenes in order to write about them, nor does he seem to exaggerate to make himself look authorly. This is a harder trick, I imagine, that it looks. I’ve never been in the military, so I can’t speak to the realistic/unrealistic question related to My War, but I appreciate how honest Buzzell sounds. He’s patriotic without fanaticism, critical without self-righteousness, and humble without affectation. I feel like I’ve got a better sense of a soldier’s life, particularly in Iraq, from My War; I’m too old for that gig, no doubt, but I appreciate the way Buzzell breaks down the complexity of all the theoretical talk down to what it’s like for a guy, for example, running a checkpoint during an urban evacuation. Excellent work, Mr. Buzzell. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
December 1, 2012
I read Buzzell's famous memoir in preparation for my own trip to Iraq. While I was going as a tourist and not a soldier, I found this book to be really informative.
For example, Buzzell says, "[the women] would stare at us but as soon as you made eye contact, they would look away. The Iraqi men were a little different. They stare too, but don't look away, and if you wave, which is something they never initiate, they wave back, nervously."
That was 2003-4. In October 2012 the women still look away, except for a few younger ones. The men are more forthcoming. On the street they rarely wave first, but when you wave or say salaam alaykum most burst into a smile and return your greeting. If they're in a place where they feel more comfortable, like a mosque, they'll often come up to you first and start a conversation.
While this is a war memoir, much of the book is about Buzzell's personal growth and the uncomfortable position he gets in when the blog he's writing becomes famous. The Army had never had to deal with this before and its policy on blogging was pretty much created because of him.
The subtitle, "Killing Time in Iraq" more accurately reads, "Killing Time in Iraq". Buzzell discovers all too well the truth of that old saying, "War is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror."
The boredom is narrated with hilarious cynicism. The terror is some of the best combat writing I've ever read. If you want to know about the war in Iraq from a grunt's-eye view, read this book.
For example, Buzzell says, "[the women] would stare at us but as soon as you made eye contact, they would look away. The Iraqi men were a little different. They stare too, but don't look away, and if you wave, which is something they never initiate, they wave back, nervously."
That was 2003-4. In October 2012 the women still look away, except for a few younger ones. The men are more forthcoming. On the street they rarely wave first, but when you wave or say salaam alaykum most burst into a smile and return your greeting. If they're in a place where they feel more comfortable, like a mosque, they'll often come up to you first and start a conversation.
While this is a war memoir, much of the book is about Buzzell's personal growth and the uncomfortable position he gets in when the blog he's writing becomes famous. The Army had never had to deal with this before and its policy on blogging was pretty much created because of him.
The subtitle, "Killing Time in Iraq" more accurately reads, "Killing Time in Iraq". Buzzell discovers all too well the truth of that old saying, "War is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror."
The boredom is narrated with hilarious cynicism. The terror is some of the best combat writing I've ever read. If you want to know about the war in Iraq from a grunt's-eye view, read this book.
December 21, 2007
My War is an autobiographical collection of blog entries, anecdotes and musings about life in the US army in Iraq. The writing is not amazing, but the guy's got a really solid voice and his story-telling is very honest and funny.
Colby, on the subject of a fellow soldier insisting that he give is machine gun a name:
I thought about it for a second, and then I told him that I would name my M240 "Rosebud." He said that was a cool name, and then with a smile asked me, "So who's Rosebud?" I could tell that he was probably suspecting Rosebud to be the name of some lap-dancing stripper or something like that. When I broke the news to him that is was inspired by the movie Citizen Kane, he said, "Citizen what?"
I then explained to him that Citizen Kane was an old black-and-white Orson Welles movie, and that Rosebud was the name of the main character's sled, which in the movie symbolized Kane's lost childhood, and then I joked that if I got killed while behind the gun I'd probably mutter the word "Rosebud" as my last dying word.
He then called me a weirdo and walked away.
Colby, on the subject of a fellow soldier insisting that he give is machine gun a name:
I thought about it for a second, and then I told him that I would name my M240 "Rosebud." He said that was a cool name, and then with a smile asked me, "So who's Rosebud?" I could tell that he was probably suspecting Rosebud to be the name of some lap-dancing stripper or something like that. When I broke the news to him that is was inspired by the movie Citizen Kane, he said, "Citizen what?"
I then explained to him that Citizen Kane was an old black-and-white Orson Welles movie, and that Rosebud was the name of the main character's sled, which in the movie symbolized Kane's lost childhood, and then I joked that if I got killed while behind the gun I'd probably mutter the word "Rosebud" as my last dying word.
He then called me a weirdo and walked away.
May 11, 2016
Che bello! Non ho letto molti altri libri di guerra quindi non posso fare un paragone vero e proprio però mi è piaciuto moltissimo.
Nelle descrizioni Colby è immediato, efficace, senza fronzoli, come dovrebbero essere tutte le testimonianze sulla guerra.
Descrive molto bene le missioni e le impressioni di quella che è la maggior parte dei soldati che partono senza veramente sapere cosa si aspettano. Perché la vera guerra non è quella dei film e se c'è un modo per avvicinarsi a capire come sia senza viverla in prima persona è attraverso questo libro!
Nelle descrizioni Colby è immediato, efficace, senza fronzoli, come dovrebbero essere tutte le testimonianze sulla guerra.
Descrive molto bene le missioni e le impressioni di quella che è la maggior parte dei soldati che partono senza veramente sapere cosa si aspettano. Perché la vera guerra non è quella dei film e se c'è un modo per avvicinarsi a capire come sia senza viverla in prima persona è attraverso questo libro!
January 20, 2018
In actual fact, I'd put this at 4.5 stars. Quite possibly one of my favourite wartime autobiographies from this century. It's incredibly readable and immensely down to earth. Nothing high flung about it. The honesty reminded me of 'Restrepo' in the form of a book. In any case, I read this a while ago, so a full review will come once I'm home for the summer and can grab my copy (and stars may potentially be amended - we'll see).
July 3, 2008
Colby Buzzell is a California slacker turned soldier turned professional writier. His hold on literary technique is astounding. He is a natural writer.
This book is the story of a slacker's search for change and excitement, his experience as a soldier in Iraq, and his thoughts on the operation of the Army and the war in Iraq. The images of war he creates in the reader's mind are like those written in great war novels - but then you realize that this stuff really happened and still happens every day.
It's fascinating. I reccommend it to anybody interested in a soldier's account of today's Iraq War.
The only pitfall this book has is the continuously exensive use of foul language. At first, it threw me off. But, with time, it developed a solid character, and then that character became more and more endearing with each new foul word that he used. I came to love him and his voice in this book because it was flawed and it was real.
This book is the story of a slacker's search for change and excitement, his experience as a soldier in Iraq, and his thoughts on the operation of the Army and the war in Iraq. The images of war he creates in the reader's mind are like those written in great war novels - but then you realize that this stuff really happened and still happens every day.
It's fascinating. I reccommend it to anybody interested in a soldier's account of today's Iraq War.
The only pitfall this book has is the continuously exensive use of foul language. At first, it threw me off. But, with time, it developed a solid character, and then that character became more and more endearing with each new foul word that he used. I came to love him and his voice in this book because it was flawed and it was real.
June 11, 2018
I'd have to check in with Pete Molin over at Time Now (he shared his far-more-intelligent-thoughts on My War) but I believe that Buzzell's My War: Killing Time in Iraq was one of the first, if not THE first, literary memoir to emerge from Iraq. First published in October of 2005, the flash-to-bang on the memoir's production was incredibly tight: Buzzell deployed to Iraq in 2003 with the Army, and came home in 2004. Which means what I'd estimate to have been less than a year to write and finish the book. Coincidentally, Buzzell deployed at roughly the same time as Brian Turner (My Life as a Foreign Country), who was also stationed at Ft Lewis, WA. Two remarkable writers in the same neighborhood: I have to wonder if their paths crossed at some point.
It's hard to remember now, but blogging was kind of a new thing back then. Blogs were springing up all across the web, and being heralded as a kind of democratic approach to journalism. And those deployed to Iraq were taking advantage of the medium for a variety of purposes as well. I can recall coming across one while I was in Iraq, established by a guy I knew deployed at the same time as me, as a way of keeping his family updated. Colby Buzzell, on the other hand, was by all accounts looking for a way to pass the time. So he established an anonymous blog that ended up going viral. He's still got the original blog posts up at Blogspot if you want to check them out.
I probably read the book within a year of its release and its raw prose blew me away. Unlike the repetitive autobiographies of trigger-pullers and generals, it was clear that Buzzell was grappling with the larger story of what it all meant. That last sentence is important to me in terms of taxonomy: for the most part, I don't read non-literary war memoirs. If all you've got in your story is a bunch of things that happened to you, Godspeed. Those stories are important, and I'm glad they're available. They are, or can be, art. A literary memoir, however, is at least trying to be Art, and does so by chasing the meaning of an experience.
That right there is the lesson of My War for war memoirists (and maybe even any author in general.) You need to be able to answer the question, "what's this all about?" And my gut feeling is that answer can't be, "it's about me going to war," unless you've got one hell of an exciting or unique perspective. There needs to be some kind of through-line. Slaughterhouse Five is certainly a war novel. But above that, it is about the moral complicity and guilt Vonnegut felt as a result of what he experienced during WWII.
My War answers the question adequately enough -- and it didn't hurt that Buzzell's voice was fresh and unique. But most importantly, there's enough connective tissue in there to take it beyond a disparate collection of things that happened and into literary territory.
I probably read the book within a year of its release and its raw prose blew me away. Unlike the repetitive autobiographies of trigger-pullers and generals, it was clear that Buzzell was grappling with the larger story of what it all meant. That last sentence is important to me in terms of taxonomy: for the most part, I don't read non-literary war memoirs. If all you've got in your story is a bunch of things that happened to you, Godspeed. Those stories are important, and I'm glad they're available. They are, or can be, art. A literary memoir, however, is at least trying to be Art, and does so by chasing the meaning of an experience.
That right there is the lesson of My War for war memoirists (and maybe even any author in general.) You need to be able to answer the question, "what's this all about?" And my gut feeling is that answer can't be, "it's about me going to war," unless you've got one hell of an exciting or unique perspective. There needs to be some kind of through-line. Slaughterhouse Five is certainly a war novel. But above that, it is about the moral complicity and guilt Vonnegut felt as a result of what he experienced during WWII.
My War answers the question adequately enough -- and it didn't hurt that Buzzell's voice was fresh and unique. But most importantly, there's enough connective tissue in there to take it beyond a disparate collection of things that happened and into literary territory.
September 26, 2007
Based on his blog (of the same title and that caused great controversy a few years back when the Army got all pissed off about it) this book is a first hand account of life as a foot solider in Iraq. Buzzell captures the sentiments of someone in transition--he joined the army not out of patriotism but as a means to escape his going nowhere life back in the States. As his story progresses he begins to question the sanity of the Army and the legality of the Iraq war. What's being reported on the mass media news is (surprise surprise) quite different from what's happening on the ground. Buzzell is fairly conservative--more libertarian than left leaning in his views. He makes no bones about putting on hard core music before going out in his Stryker to "secure" an area. But neither does he hide his fear when his platoon is ambushed. It's interesting and important to see his transformation from a "regular Army guy" to a person who is aware of the consequences of his actions by participating in military "operations."
One may ask why I'm reading (my husband Noah says somewhat obsessively) all these accounts of life as a soldier in Iraq. I don't usually gravitate to these types of books. However, as this war drags on and on and on and on and thousands are killed, people who are actually fighting (not embedded media) can give us a more personal look into the costs of war. It's also nice to see soldiers speaking out against an illegal and unjust war.
One may ask why I'm reading (my husband Noah says somewhat obsessively) all these accounts of life as a soldier in Iraq. I don't usually gravitate to these types of books. However, as this war drags on and on and on and on and thousands are killed, people who are actually fighting (not embedded media) can give us a more personal look into the costs of war. It's also nice to see soldiers speaking out against an illegal and unjust war.
February 25, 2017
Soldiers' memoirs vary in quality; usually the less filtered through co-authors, editors, high-ranking officers and the like, the better they are. This one's terrific.
Colby Buzzell was a Bay-area guy not up to much at age twenty-six, a skateboarder and punk music enthusiast, a bit of a hoodlum, who was tired of dead-end jobs, tired of being broke. A two-year enlistment in the army started to sound like a pretty good deal. And not for the vocational skills, either: Buzzell wanted the infantry, because he wanted the adventure. By late 2003 he was in Mosul with the 101st Airborne, getting all the adventure he could handle.
What makes this memoir special is that this Generation X wild child turned trigger-puller is also an independent thinker, a curious and voracious reader, and a keen observer willing to put it all down unfiltered by much of anything. It makes for compelling reading. Buzzell records the tedium and the terror of an infantryman's existence; he casts a skeptical eye on military foolishness while remaining committed to the mission and his fellow soldiers. If you want to know who's fighting our wars and what it does to them, check out this soldier's tale.
Colby Buzzell was a Bay-area guy not up to much at age twenty-six, a skateboarder and punk music enthusiast, a bit of a hoodlum, who was tired of dead-end jobs, tired of being broke. A two-year enlistment in the army started to sound like a pretty good deal. And not for the vocational skills, either: Buzzell wanted the infantry, because he wanted the adventure. By late 2003 he was in Mosul with the 101st Airborne, getting all the adventure he could handle.
What makes this memoir special is that this Generation X wild child turned trigger-puller is also an independent thinker, a curious and voracious reader, and a keen observer willing to put it all down unfiltered by much of anything. It makes for compelling reading. Buzzell records the tedium and the terror of an infantryman's existence; he casts a skeptical eye on military foolishness while remaining committed to the mission and his fellow soldiers. If you want to know who's fighting our wars and what it does to them, check out this soldier's tale.
February 26, 2019
Pretty good book that can be ready quick. Has a little something for everyone. Didn't know what a Stryker was until I read this book. Looked them up on the web and we very impressed. Also, I was able to look up some things the author mentioned and that made the book more real for me. Found this on a list here at Goodreads and am glad I took the time to read it.
August 27, 2017
Very interesting and engaging look at a Stryker unit operating in Iraq from the perspective of an unlikely Soldier. An awful lot of time is spent on the backstory of how the author ended up joining the Army, and the tone gets a little self-congratulatory at times, but a good read overall.
August 12, 2008
Cool unbiased look at the war in Iraq by a soldier who kind of brought the "blogging while at war" deal to the forefront.
January 2, 2017
A worthwhile read with excerpts from a blog/diary written from the POV of an infantry soldier
January 15, 2020
Great book!
December 19, 2017
A brilliant firsthand account of the War in Iraq, told not by a journalist or by an officer but by a grunt who discovered a gift for writing while on deployment. I read this prior to my first deployment and it did as much to prepare me mentally as anything else I read or any training I was given.
August 4, 2018
Another great book on Iraq. Buzzell maintain a blog (remember them, old people?) during the early days of the insurgency and translated it in to book form. The day to day like of a soldier with the Striker brigade out of Fort Lewis. Boring most of the time with the required terror for the 1%. Highly recommended.
December 4, 2018
This book is hard to review, it hit close to home for me. I served in those same sandy hellholes, with the mental scars to prove it. If you wondered what the experience of the war in Iraq. I've been to some of these places and Buzzell's writing put me right back there. Seriously, if this is your cup of tea, then this book is a must read.
September 15, 2022
This was a really interesting book about the personal experiences of a young guy serving in Iraq. I think personal experiences of all kinds are so important to the historical narrative, especially in documenting major events. I thought this book was really fast paced, and it kept my attention. I highly suggest this book for those interested in personal experiences about the Iraq War.
August 18, 2018
This is seriously a badass and hysterical book!
August 23, 2018
The simplicity in the wording and the simple way in walking through the events in the book is amazing, except for some bad words.
I like the book and recommend to read it
I like the book and recommend to read it
October 24, 2018
Very educational. I served in the Navy for 9 and half years. The war at sea and the war on land are very different situations.
February 6, 2019
Absolute Masterpiece.
June 20, 2021
A great read - highly recommended. Serious, funny and insightful. It's interesting to see the author's growth both as an individual and a writer.
June 8, 2022
Iraq War
Good biography of a soldier in Iraq. If you are offended by language. Don't read this f***ing book. Based on his blog.
Good biography of a soldier in Iraq. If you are offended by language. Don't read this f***ing book. Based on his blog.
March 10, 2024
Easy read. He is the same age, and from the same general area as me. This book is a snap shot of a young man's experience in the Army during 2003-2004 in Iraq. It is a snap shot of that time.
April 3, 2025
Read this book right before I shipped out to basic training. A year after reading I was in Iraq. It helped mentally prepare for this journey.
April 27, 2024
Goed geschreven boek door Amerikaanse soldaat in de oorlog in Irak
February 25, 2013
You can check out some of my other reviews on my blog The Dancing Nerd Writes Again or see my full review of My War by clicking here .
Initial Thoughts:
I read this book for my Literature and War class.
I was excited, perhaps the more correct term is intrigued, to start reading a first hand account on the war in Iraq. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about the war in Iraq and still don’t claim to be any sort of expert. It was a subject I decided to stay blissfully ignorant of but I am happy I got the chance to read this story and get a better understanding of what American soldiers went through and are still going through in Iraq.
Parts of this story were actual blog post written while Colby was in Iraq, others are diary entries, and in between Colby added extra anecdotes and information to help the narrative flow more naturally. I should also mention that this book contains a lot of explicit language. If it was made into a movie it would definitely get an ‘R’ rating for language, violence, and some drug use.
Spoilers!
I think it is appropriate to start off this review by re-quoting myself from a comment I left on Goodreads immediately after I had finished this book. “I found myself reading this and after ever page thinking, wow. It was really insightful and at times highly amusing.”
I will say that I’m a bit disappointed in myself and the fact that I waited so long to write this review. But life (aka midterms) got in the way, so I’ll try my best to accurately convey my feelings for this book.
I learned a lot about a soldier’s experiences over in Iraq, many of which left me in awe of the men and women fighting for our country. Some of the accounts were inspiring while others were a bit disheartening. These reactions were understandable when you consider how honest Colby is in his retelling of the events. At times I was laughing, bored, and scared to death and experiencing many of the same emotions Colby had lived through. There is no way I can ever understand what it feels like to be shot at or what it feels like to have sweat running down into my eyes and be unable to move, but through reading this, I feel more knowledgeable and empathetic.
As the novel progresses Colby discusses his love of music, art and books. He is a very intelligent human being which came in stark contrast to the beginning of the novel’s image of Colby which was a hometown stoner. One of the books mentioned is Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. I read this book almost two years ago for a Humanities class and fell in love with it. I’ve highlighted all my favorite passages and keep this book on my desk at all times. I flip through it almost every day when I feel like I need a reality check or a little motivation. I think everyone should read this book at least once and I highly recommend it.
Colby is an amazing writer and his descriptions made me feel like I was in the middle of the action, or in some cases non action. It was a really unique perspective and I’m very appreciative of him for writing this account for the world to read.
Conclusion:
I really did enjoy reading this book and had so many wow moments while reading. I have a million little sticky notes highlight my favorite parts or the things I found to be the most interesting.
I would recommend this book to someone who wants (for the most part) an unbiased, non partisan account of his life and journey to becoming a soldier.
If my review hasn’t convinced you to read this book, my apologies. Like I said earlier I should’ve reviewed this book when it was fresh in my mind because since then I’ve taken midterms and had to read many other novels and textbooks and everything has started to blend together. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Colby Buzzell is a really unique, funny, and honest individual whose work and life deserves an audience.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Initial Thoughts:
I read this book for my Literature and War class.
I was excited, perhaps the more correct term is intrigued, to start reading a first hand account on the war in Iraq. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about the war in Iraq and still don’t claim to be any sort of expert. It was a subject I decided to stay blissfully ignorant of but I am happy I got the chance to read this story and get a better understanding of what American soldiers went through and are still going through in Iraq.
Parts of this story were actual blog post written while Colby was in Iraq, others are diary entries, and in between Colby added extra anecdotes and information to help the narrative flow more naturally. I should also mention that this book contains a lot of explicit language. If it was made into a movie it would definitely get an ‘R’ rating for language, violence, and some drug use.
Spoilers!
I think it is appropriate to start off this review by re-quoting myself from a comment I left on Goodreads immediately after I had finished this book. “I found myself reading this and after ever page thinking, wow. It was really insightful and at times highly amusing.”
I will say that I’m a bit disappointed in myself and the fact that I waited so long to write this review. But life (aka midterms) got in the way, so I’ll try my best to accurately convey my feelings for this book.
I learned a lot about a soldier’s experiences over in Iraq, many of which left me in awe of the men and women fighting for our country. Some of the accounts were inspiring while others were a bit disheartening. These reactions were understandable when you consider how honest Colby is in his retelling of the events. At times I was laughing, bored, and scared to death and experiencing many of the same emotions Colby had lived through. There is no way I can ever understand what it feels like to be shot at or what it feels like to have sweat running down into my eyes and be unable to move, but through reading this, I feel more knowledgeable and empathetic.
As the novel progresses Colby discusses his love of music, art and books. He is a very intelligent human being which came in stark contrast to the beginning of the novel’s image of Colby which was a hometown stoner. One of the books mentioned is Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. I read this book almost two years ago for a Humanities class and fell in love with it. I’ve highlighted all my favorite passages and keep this book on my desk at all times. I flip through it almost every day when I feel like I need a reality check or a little motivation. I think everyone should read this book at least once and I highly recommend it.
Colby is an amazing writer and his descriptions made me feel like I was in the middle of the action, or in some cases non action. It was a really unique perspective and I’m very appreciative of him for writing this account for the world to read.
Conclusion:
I really did enjoy reading this book and had so many wow moments while reading. I have a million little sticky notes highlight my favorite parts or the things I found to be the most interesting.
I would recommend this book to someone who wants (for the most part) an unbiased, non partisan account of his life and journey to becoming a soldier.
If my review hasn’t convinced you to read this book, my apologies. Like I said earlier I should’ve reviewed this book when it was fresh in my mind because since then I’ve taken midterms and had to read many other novels and textbooks and everything has started to blend together. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Colby Buzzell is a really unique, funny, and honest individual whose work and life deserves an audience.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
September 8, 2022
This is the book to read if you want to know what it is really like in the army. Well written Buzzell is instantly likeable and has a way of explaining the simple things which most combat memiors skip.
This is not a guns blazing combat story which is what I usually go for but still couldn't put the book down.
Buzzell joined the army and was deployed to Iraq where he started a blog about his experiences. Eventually the blog caught the attention of army superiors who made it difficult to continue.
This is not a guns blazing combat story which is what I usually go for but still couldn't put the book down.
Buzzell joined the army and was deployed to Iraq where he started a blog about his experiences. Eventually the blog caught the attention of army superiors who made it difficult to continue.
January 4, 2009
Colby Buzzell, Fuck The War: CBFTW, 17 Jun 2007
My War by Colby Buzzell is nothing less than the soul of an extremely interesting human being at war on our behalf in Iraq."
-Kurt Vonnegut
Colby Buzzell, aged 26, in and out of meaningless jobs, drugging, drinking and tired of life went to a Marine recruiting station in San Francisco. He wanted to join and fight the war. Incredibly, he was told that there were no openings that month, to wait and come back. As he left the recriuters office, the Army recruiter next door stepped up. He gave Colby a nice story and the next thing he knew, Colby was in the Army. Off he went to Ft Lewis in Washington and then off to Kuwait. He ended up in Iraq as a machine gun runner. A dangerous job, but Colby loved the action, he always wanted to be in the middle.
By the eighth month in Iraq, Colby was tired. Tired of hanging around. The missions were less. He started writing in his journal. The journal became a blog. And, soon enough, Colby Buzzell's blunt, open, deep, and intricate writing became known. People from all over the world were reading his blog. Word got out and the military insisted that his superior read the blog before it went out. Everyone and anyone who knew Colby read his blog. It was an honest account of daily life in Iraq. On a trip home to see his wife on leave a stewardness commented, "Iraq can't be as bad as the televion news show us, right?" Colby said, "I don't know, I don't watch the news." Colby heard from a mother whose son had just died in Mosul where Colby was stationed. She thanked him for the honest protrayal of what her son probalby went through. Colby did not know how to answer her. So, he didn't. Colby signed his blog, CBFTW, "Colby Buzzell, Fuck The War".
Soon enough he got so much crap from the military superiors about his blog- he stopped writing. Howoever, when he got home, the year he spent bloging in Iraq became a book. Colby Buzzell does a good job of capturing the daily absurdities and occasional terrors of life on the front, where even a trip to the mess hall is likely to result in a wound. Some of the sharpest writing comes from the author's blog, which earned him celebrity beyond Iraq. In May of 2007, Colby Buzzell won the Blooker's Prize for best blog on the Internet. Colby is writing for Esquire at times and looking for free lance work. He is back in San Francisco, living the life of a writer.
"If military recruitment is down now, wait till the kids read this." Kirkus
Wonderfully entertaining and brilliant writing. He is living a life like that of his heroes; Hunter S Thompson, Bukowski, and Kurt Vonnegut.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 06-17-07
Biography - Buzzell, Colby ((?)-): An article from: Contemporary Authors Online
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