Fobbit

'The Iraq War's answer to Catch-22' Publisher's Weekly Fobbit 'f -b t, noun. Definition- A U.S. soldier stationed at a Forward Operating Base who avoids combat by remaining at the base, esp. during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011). Pejorative. Welcome to the FOB - Baghdad's Forward Operating Base Triumph. This is the back-office of the battlefield, where Staff Sergeant Chance Gooding (a Fobbit through and through) spends his days tapping out press releases to turn the latest roadside bomb into something the folks back home can read about over their breakfast cereal. This is where male and female soldiers are trying to find an empty Porta-Potty in which to get acquainted, grunts are playing Xbox between missions, and most of the senior staff are more concerned about getting to the chow hall in time for the Friday night all-you-can-eat seafood special than worrying about little things like military strategy. This is where things can very quickly spiral out of control.

About the Author :
David Abrams served in the U.S. Army for twenty years, and was deployed to Iraq in 2005 as part of a public affairs team. His stories have appeared in Esquire, Narrative and other literary magazines.

Review :
In this wickedly funny novel, Abrams sees right past the self-aggrandizing illusions and comforting fairytales that tuck the US in at night. As funny, disturbing, heartbreaking and ridiculous as war itself Brilliant and excruciating Abrams has a definite comic talent and a lively turn of phrase [Hilarious]... It is the rare writer – indeed, the rare person – who can step outside of himself and see with cold clarity the humor and pathos of his situation and then bring the reader to the same understanding. David Abrams is such a writer Fobbit blends fiction and journalism, an apt reflection of literary influences combined with [Abrams’s] experience in an Army public affairs team... Though absurd, these Dickensian characters are all so skillfully wrought that we quickly accept their idiosyncrasies... What’s most intriguing about this work is that, at its center, it is both a clever study in anxiety and an unsettling expose of how the military tells its truths There’s a lot of fun and wit here and the portrait it offers of a certain kind of American soldier, and a certain kind of war, is both valuable and accurate [Abrams has] a genuine sense of humor...and a productive sense of irony to go with it. Fobbit is an impressive debut and holds out promise for more good things to come Fobbit is fast, razor sharp, and seven kinds of hilarious. It deserves a place alongside Slaughterhouse Five and Catch-22 as one of our great comic novels about the absurdity of war When it comes to war literature, a comic novel will always do a better job with the big picture