During the fall of 2002, tens of thousands of American troops were stationed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, waiting for a war that nobody was sure would come at all. This is the story of one such soldier.
(from the back cover) |
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During the fall of 2002, tens of thousands of American troops were stationed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, waiting for a war that nobody was sure would come at all. This is the story of one such soldier.
(from the back cover) |
|
Specialist Alex Hoffman plays the part of the young soldier, who joined the Army to get the hell out of Deer Valley, Minnesota. Through the course of the book, he finds himself in one insane situation after another, from the accidental invasion of Iraq to his friend's decision to open a gambling resort for the local Arabs. Alex slowly goes crazy under the constant stress, and he discovers the crazier he gets, the better he understands the world around him. Waiting for War is a war satire, born in the style of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 or Hans Hellmut Kirst's The Adventures of Private Faust. Written while I was deployed to Saudi Arabia the winter before the United States invaded Iraq, the book captures the feel of life in the war-like peace of the Arabian Desert. Anyone who has served in the military will recognize the lampooning of stereotypical bureaucratic processes and leaders, from the administrative official who won't serve anyone who hasn't signed the logbook, even if the pen is out of ink, to the junior officer who thinks he's General Patton.
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One of the influences of Waiting for War was
Catch 22
by Joseph Heller. This hilarious novel is set in Italy during World War II, and is the origin of the phrase "Catch-22." Perhaps the best book ever written in the genre, I consider it a must-own for everybody.
Click here to see more of his works at Amazon.com.
More to come! |
From Chapter Three "Hooah!" I don't think I'd ever heard BJ say hooah. Hooah is the Army's Smurf. It's the kind of word that can be used to replace any other word in a conversation. I once had an officer tell me it meant 'Yes, Can Do, and I Love the Army!' but I never believed it. Sometimes it meant 'Sure, whatever, I'm not listening.' Sometimes it was 'That's enough, shut up before I smack you.' Sometimes a whole group of fresh recruits would shout it together, not meaning anything, just to signify that whoever's giving them orders just finished a sentence. Frequently it meant 'yes.' Today, it meant 'no.'
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