Overview

In the tradition of Michael Herr's Dispatches and works by such masters of the memoir as Mary Karr and Tobias Wolff, a powerful account of war and homecoming. Brian Castner served three tours of duty in the Middle East, two of them as the commander of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Iraq. He and his team - his brothers - disarmed bombs. Sometimes they used robots and remote controls. Sometimes they set off controlled explosions. Sometimes one of the team would have to put on the eighty-pound Kevlar suit, take the Long Walk, and disarm the device by hand. Often they were simply too late; arriving just in time to pick up the pieces. In a hailstorm of bullets, bomb fragments, body parts and the endless wailing of innocent civilians, the days rolled into nights, yesterday turned into tomorrow, and today never even happened. But after the tour, the celebrations and the long plane ride home, the real war was just beginning. The war against the fear, the confusion, the guilt and the memory loss. The war against the Crazy. This exhilarating, heartbreaking, searingly honest memoir exposes two harrowing and simultaneous realities- the terror, excitement and camaraderie of combat, and the lonely battle against the enemy within.

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9780552779142

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A raw, wrenching, blood-soaked chronicle of the human cost of war. Castner's memoir brings to mind Erich Maria Remarque's masterpiece, All Quiet on the Western Front. Jon Krakauer, author of 'Where Men Win Glory' A powerful book about the long cost of combat and the brotherhood of men at arms. Occasionally hilarious, and always harrowing. I found myself holding my breath. Anthony Swofford, author of 'Jarhead' Elegant [and] superbly written. As you read think of Alan Sillitoe's The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. Castner gives us that steady rhythm of one foot in front of the other. Think of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Here is the reality of the exhausted mind, and of profound thought wandering all Creation. Larry Heinemann, author of 'Paco's Story' and 'Close Quarters' This is a very human book. You need to read The Long Walk. Thomas E. Ricks, author of 'Fiasco' and 'The Gamble' Vivid... Castner's book intersperses stateside scenes of intense military training, off-hours hijinks and marital strife with vivid, often grisly accounts from Iraq's war-ravaged landscape, where his EOD teams disarmed improvised explosive devices, hunted for the bomb makers or cleaned up after their horrific handiwork while dodging gunfire and angry locals. [He writes] bluntly in describing how he has been changed by the war. Wall Street Journal

Author Information

BRIAN CASTNER served three tours in the Middle East as an officer of the U.S. Air Force-two of them as the head of an EOD team in Iraq. In 2006, he received a Bronze Star for his service. Upon returning to the United States following his service, he consulted as an independent civilian contractor, training military EOD units on tactical bomb-disposal procedures prior to their deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. He lives in Buffalo, New York, with his wife and children.

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