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Fire and Forget
Short Stories from the Long War
Description
Fire and Forget includes the title story from Redeployment by Phil Klay, 2014 National Book Award Winner in Fiction
These stories aren’t pretty and they aren’t for the faint of heart. They are realistic, haunting and shocking. And they are all unforgettable. Television reports, movies, newspapers and blogs about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have offered images of the fighting there. But this collection offers voices — powerful voices, telling the kind of truth that only fiction can offer.
What makes the collection so remarkable is that all of these stories are written by those who were there, or waited for them at home. The anthology, which features a Foreword by National Book Award winner Colum McCann, includes the best voices of the wars’ generation: award-winning author Phil Klay’s “Redeployment” Brian Turner, whose poem “Hurt Locker” was the movie’s inspiration; Colby Buzzell, whose book My War resonates with countless veterans; Siobhan Fallon, whose book You Know When the Men Are Gone echoes the joy and pain of the spouses left behind; Matt Gallagher, whose book Kaboom captures the hilarity and horror of the modern military experience; and ten others.
These stories aren’t pretty and they aren’t for the faint of heart. They are realistic, haunting and shocking. And they are all unforgettable. Television reports, movies, newspapers and blogs about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have offered images of the fighting there. But this collection offers voices — powerful voices, telling the kind of truth that only fiction can offer.
What makes the collection so remarkable is that all of these stories are written by those who were there, or waited for them at home. The anthology, which features a Foreword by National Book Award winner Colum McCann, includes the best voices of the wars’ generation: award-winning author Phil Klay’s “Redeployment” Brian Turner, whose poem “Hurt Locker” was the movie’s inspiration; Colby Buzzell, whose book My War resonates with countless veterans; Siobhan Fallon, whose book You Know When the Men Are Gone echoes the joy and pain of the spouses left behind; Matt Gallagher, whose book Kaboom captures the hilarity and horror of the modern military experience; and ten others.
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Praise
Acolytes of War, 1/21/13
“Whether portraying the fantastical or the banal, the in-theater tales feature grunts' eye perspectives on deployment, far from the sterile perspectives recounted in more official histories, memoirs, journalism, and government pronouncements…Hat's off to all the Fire and Forget authors and editors.”
ForeWord, Spring 2013
“Deeply insightful…The writing is vivid and compelling, artfully selected by the editors…An important book…This collection deserves to be read.”
Internet Review of Books, 1/25/13
“As might be expected, these stories are intense; it's hard to read many of them in a single session. Yet contrary to expectations there's not much sameness in the telling. Each man or woman has his/her own story, each one unique. These are voices we all need to hear.”
East Bay Express, 2/5/13
“[A] remarkable collection…Not for the faint of heart, they are realistic, haunting, shocking, and unforgettable…This collection offers voices—powerful voices, telling the kind of truth that only fiction can offer.”
Joyce Carol Oates, Twitter.com, 2/9/13
“Brilliant intro by Colum McCann. Devastating stories.”
Daily Beast, 2/11/13
“Whether portraying the fantastical or the banal, the in-theater tales feature grunts' eye perspectives on deployment, far from the sterile perspectives recounted in more official histories, memoirs, journalism, and government pronouncements…Hat's off to all the Fire and Forget authors and editors.”
ForeWord, Spring 2013
“Deeply insightful…The writing is vivid and compelling, artfully selected by the editors…An important book…This collection deserves to be read.”
Internet Review of Books, 1/25/13
“As might be expected, these stories are intense; it's hard to read many of them in a single session. Yet contrary to expectations there's not much sameness in the telling. Each man or woman has his/her own story, each one unique. These are voices we all need to hear.”
East Bay Express, 2/5/13
“[A] remarkable collection…Not for the faint of heart, they are realistic, haunting, shocking, and unforgettable…This collection offers voices—powerful voices, telling the kind of truth that only fiction can offer.”
Joyce Carol Oates, Twitter.com, 2/9/13
“Brilliant intro by Colum McCann. Devastating stories.”
Daily Beast, 2/11/13
Booklist, 1/1/13
“Captures the messiness of soldiering when the mission and endgame are unclear. Though fiction, each work reads true, filled with tension, fear, and anger. Readers are transported to desert checkpoints, ride along with vehicle convoys, and return home from combat to face an uncertain future.”
The Guardian (UK), 1/3/13
“The range of stories in Fire and Forget displays a remarkable depth and breadth of the experience of the Iraq war.”
WarOnTerrorNews, 1/3/13
“Like Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, most of these 15 stories are so deceptively crafted that the impact sneaks up on the reader in an unexpected way…It seems like we're preconditioned to expect 700-page epic novels, but a 10-page short story can condense all the emotion down to its core essence. The editors have done a remarkable job at maintaining that discipline…It's a powerful collection; for now, probably the best, most comprehensive—fictional—look at the wars that has been written.”
The Fighting Leprechaun, 1/10/13
“Powerful… These short stories manage to capture the essence of what service members have experienced… There are a lot of essential truths packed into Fire and Forget. For those of us that have been there, or know people who served in these wars, it is important reading."
“Captures the messiness of soldiering when the mission and endgame are unclear. Though fiction, each work reads true, filled with tension, fear, and anger. Readers are transported to desert checkpoints, ride along with vehicle convoys, and return home from combat to face an uncertain future.”
The Guardian (UK), 1/3/13
“The range of stories in Fire and Forget displays a remarkable depth and breadth of the experience of the Iraq war.”
WarOnTerrorNews, 1/3/13
“Like Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, most of these 15 stories are so deceptively crafted that the impact sneaks up on the reader in an unexpected way…It seems like we're preconditioned to expect 700-page epic novels, but a 10-page short story can condense all the emotion down to its core essence. The editors have done a remarkable job at maintaining that discipline…It's a powerful collection; for now, probably the best, most comprehensive—fictional—look at the wars that has been written.”
The Fighting Leprechaun, 1/10/13
“Powerful… These short stories manage to capture the essence of what service members have experienced… There are a lot of essential truths packed into Fire and Forget. For those of us that have been there, or know people who served in these wars, it is important reading."