260:...each person has such a small piece of the war, and that piece will be powerfully shaped not only by when they were there and where in Iraq they were, but also by what job they did. So rather than writing a unified novel about the experience of war, I wanted twelve different voices—voices that would approach similar themes but from very different perspectives. I don't think all my narrators would get along with each other. I don't think they'd agree with each other about what the war meant. And part of my intent was that that would open a space for the reader to come in and critically engage with the sorts of claims the narrators are making.... Also, it's just fascinating to me to step into very different heads. What was the war like for a mortuary affairs specialist? For a chaplain? For an artilleryman, who never sees the bodies of the enemy he has killed?
273:...before writing about a foreign service officer I read a memoir by one who'd served in Iraq, a fairly wonky book about career diplomacy, a lot of Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction reports, and so on. I also read a Czech World War I novel that seemed appropriate to gear me up, in terms of tone, and I talked to Civil Affairs soldiers and Foreign Service Officers, and I read a lot of journalism. Not everything I read was about war. Bernanos's
256:
has said, "was something I took very seriously. I did a lot a research, I talked to a lot of
Marines, and spent a lot of time thinking about the subjects. Doing the kind of imaginative work, drafting stories over and over again until I had something that felt emotionally honest, which is also not the same as something that's going to please everyone who’s been through that experience." He said he needed multiples voices because:
453:'s writing on Vietnam that it has been getting in America. Indeed, Klay's gifts become more apparent with each new narrator and circumstance: his reach, his tonal control, his observational sophistication, the sheer emotional torque of his narratives. By the end, he had convincingly inhabited more than a dozen different voices and I felt I had learned more about Iraq than in any documentary or factual account.
40:
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Klay has described his own deployment in Iraq as "a mild experience" where he did not see the war itself but only the effects of war second hand. To depict the war, he created a dozen characters, each with a different set of experiences and perspectives. Avoiding cliches and creating "prototypes", he
264:
He said he had some models in mind of what he did not want to do: "There have been a couple books in the last couple years with almost comical misrepresentations of the military by authors who wanted to talk about Iraq, but clearly didn't want to do the hard work of learning enough about the subject
476:
received the 2014 National Book Award for fiction. The judges described it as a "brutal, piercing sometimes darkly funny collection" that "stakes Klay's claim for consideration as the quintessential storyteller of
America's Iraq conflict." In his acceptance speech, he said: "I can't think of a more
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If there is a flaw to be found here it is only one of narrowness; all of these narrators are
American men and most are Marines. But the voices are strong and varied, and we hear from enlisted men and officers, chaplains and lawyers, State Department do-gooders and college students, and, of course,
468:
many grunts. The book contains plenty of blood-dead-hajji-fuck-kill-love, but also stories that violate innocence and faith itself. If obscenity scrapes just the skin then through the narrative arc of tragedy and suffering Klay has managed to dig down to the organs.
524:. The Chautauqua Prize is awarded annually to commemorate a book of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honors the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts.
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Klay has said that before and during his service in Iraq he did not have a "clear sense" that he was going to write about war, but that when he shared his plan to enter the military upon graduation, his
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important conversation to be having — war's too strange to be processed alone. I want to thank everyone who picked up the book, who read it and decided to join the conversation."
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The book consists of twelve stories that chronicle the experiences of soldiers and veterans who served during the Iraq War, specifically
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is at its heart a meditation on war — and the responsibility that everyone, especially the average citizen, bears for it.
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and Nathan
Englander's short stories, for example, were all very helpful at different points for different stories.
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1046:"'Redeployment' by Phil Klay wins the 2015 W. Y. Boyd Literary Award 'for Excellence in Military Fiction'"
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a list of works he read and found valuable in helping to shape his writing. He explained that:
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on its list of the "Ten Best Books of 2014". On
January 19, 2015 it was announced by the
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wrote: "It's the best thing written so far on what the war did to people’s souls." In
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910:"For Phil Klay, a National Book Award Winner, War Is 'Too Strange' to Process Alone"
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463:, Brian Castner described the book "a clinic in the profanities of war". He wrote:
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230:. He thought it important to study what the greatest minds had to say about war."
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613:"Author Phil Klay: 'I had a desire to serve my country and I'm a physical guy'"
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994:"National Book Critics Circle Announces Finalists for Publishing Year 2014"
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631:"Writer Phil Klay returns to war and the strangeness of coming home for
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688:"Reminder From A Marine: Civilians And Veterans Share Ownership Of War"
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746:"Interview with Phil Klay, 2014 National Book Award Finalist, Fiction"
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238:. The book's title story first appeared in the literary magazine
822:"Redeployment by Phil Klay review – 'Incendiary stories of war'"
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W. Y. Boyd
Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction
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t is definitely in the combined effect of the stories that
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is a collection of short stories by
American writer
265:to have something worth saying." Klay included in
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513:for "a best first book published in any genre."
246:Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War
449:garners its power and earns the comparisons to
1507:National Book Award for Fiction winning works
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485:Across a dozen stories told in first-person,
166:. His first published book, it won the 2014
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569:Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics
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1136:
1065:"Klay wins £25k Warwick Prize for Writing"
214:"...made sure that before I went I'd read
194:from 2005 to 2009. He was deployed to the
178:given for a best first book in any genre.
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1016:"Redeployment wins 2015 Chautauqua Prize"
520:announced that Redeployment won the 2015
1063:Onwuemezi, Natasha (November 10, 2015).
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27:2014 short story collection by Phil Klay
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252:involved years of meticulous research.
14:
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206:teacher and mentor, the American poet
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908:Catapano, Peter (November 20, 2014).
876:Filkins, Dexter (November 19, 2014).
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585:Kelly, Keith J. (November 20, 2014).
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423:was published in March 2014. In the
393:"Unless It's a Sucking Chest Wound"
848:"The Profanity of War: Phil Klay's
713:Kane, Alexander J. (May 17, 2014).
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190:(2003 – 2010). Klay served in the
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790:Filkins, Dexter (March 6, 2014).
662:"Omnivoracious: The Art of War -
1502:American short story collections
846:Castner, Brian (March 1, 2014).
660:Nguyen, Kevin (March 28, 2014).
611:Kate Kellaway (March 16, 2014).
1159:National Book Award for Fiction
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1022:. May 29, 2015. Archived from
820:Edward Docx (March 26, 2014).
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535:was the 2015 recipient of the
234:Klay spent four years writing
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715:"An Interview With Phil Klay"
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361:"In Vietnam They Had Whores"
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1497:2014 short story collections
565:"Phil Klay: Ten Kliks South"
529:American Library Association
503:National Book Critics Circle
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353:"Money as a Weapons System"
172:National Book Critics Circle
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968:"The 10 Best Books of 2014"
377:"Psychological Operations"
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773:(Penguin Group US, 2014).
192:United States Marine Corps
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942:Win National Book Awards"
545:Warwick Prize for Writing
275:Diary of a Country Priest
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1364:The Underground Railroad
1280:Let the Great World Spin
750:National Book Foundation
518:The Chautauqua Institute
369:"Prayer in the Furnace"
587:"Phil Klay wins Nation"
299:Originally published in
188:Operation Iraqi Freedom
1220:The News from Paraguay
531:announced that Klay's
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325:"After Action Report"
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277:and Edward P. Jones's
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244:. It was reprinted in
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878:"The Long Road Home:
744:Rubenstein, Rebecca.
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479:National Public Radio
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1376:Sing, Unburied, Sing
1020:Westfield Republican
1004:on January 22, 2015.
719:The Dartmouth Review
539:. In November 2015,
1517:Penguin Press books
1237:William T. Vollmann
948:. November 19, 2014
641:. November 24, 2014
34:
18:Redeployment (book)
1412:Interior Chinatown
1328:The Good Lord Bird
1092:The Good Lord Bird
974:. December 4, 2014
972:The New York Times
914:The New York Times
887:The New York Times
800:The New York Times
527:In June 2015, the
511:John Leonard Award
509:received its 2014
401:"Ten Kliks South"
176:John Leonard Award
80:Historical Fiction
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1304:Salvage the Bones
1273:Peter Matthiessen
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1111:Succeeded by
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16:(Redirected from
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1369:Colson Whitehead
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1052:. June 2, 2015.
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1177:Susan Sontag
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1120:Adam Johnson
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1074:November 11,
1072:. Retrieved
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1028:. Retrieved
1024:the original
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1002:the original
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976:. Retrieved
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952:November 20,
950:. Retrieved
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919:November 21,
917:. Retrieved
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893:November 20,
891:. Retrieved
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880:Redeployment
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861:November 23,
859:. Retrieved
855:
850:Redeployment
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831:November 23,
829:. Retrieved
826:The Guardian
825:
815:
805:November 23,
803:. Retrieved
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794:Redeployment
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771:Redeployment
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755:November 22,
753:. Retrieved
749:
724:November 21,
722:. Retrieved
718:
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698:November 21,
696:. Retrieved
691:
682:
672:November 23,
670:. Retrieved
664:Redeployment
663:
655:
645:November 25,
643:. Retrieved
639:PBS Newshour
638:
633:Redeployment
632:
625:
617:The Guardian
616:
606:
596:November 20,
594:. Retrieved
590:
568:
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541:Redeployment
540:
533:Redeployment
532:
526:
516:In May 2015
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249:
245:
239:
236:Redeployment
235:
233:
213:
200:
185:
159:Redeployment
158:
157:
156:
29:
1381:Jesmyn Ward
1309:Jesmyn Ward
1201:Julia Glass
1196:Three Junes
1161:(2000–2024)
978:December 4,
769:Phil Klay,
460:Daily Beast
451:Tim O'Brien
439:Edward Docx
228:David Jones
224:Isaac Babel
198:in 2007–8.
71:(2003–2010)
1491:Categories
1441:Tess Gunty
1429:Jason Mott
1417:Charles Yu
1405:Susan Choi
1388:The Friend
1172:In America
551:References
547:for 2015.
208:Tom Sleigh
182:Background
1475:2000–2024
1468:1975–1999
1461:1950–1974
1345:Phil Klay
1225:Lily Tuck
497:included
416:Reception
396:Original
388:Original
380:Original
372:Original
364:Original
356:Original
348:Original
340:Original
337:"Bodies"
330:Tin House
320:Original
317:"FRAGO "
220:Hemingway
164:Phil Klay
150:852221707
86:Publisher
51:Phil Klay
1030:June 21,
668:. Amazon
407:Guernica
286:Contents
174:'s 2014
170:and the
69:Iraq War
57:Language
1050:ala.org
441:wrote:
216:Tolstoy
65:Subject
60:English
1443:(2022)
1431:(2021)
1419:(2020)
1407:(2019)
1395:(2018)
1383:(2017)
1371:(2016)
1359:(2015)
1347:(2014)
1335:(2013)
1323:(2012)
1311:(2011)
1299:(2010)
1287:(2009)
1275:(2008)
1263:(2007)
1251:(2006)
1239:(2005)
1227:(2004)
1215:(2003)
1203:(2002)
1191:(2001)
1179:(2000)
777:
345:"OIF"
310:Granta
241:Granta
125:291 pp
47:Author
1108:2014
505:that
294:Story
122:Pages
117:Print
76:Genre
1076:2015
1032:2015
980:2014
954:2014
921:2014
895:2014
863:2014
833:2014
807:2014
775:ISBN
757:2014
726:2014
700:2014
674:2014
647:2014
598:2014
493:The
226:and
144:OCLC
131:ISBN
1439:by
1427:by
1415:by
1403:by
1391:by
1379:by
1367:by
1355:by
1343:by
1331:by
1319:by
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1283:by
1271:by
1259:by
1247:by
1235:by
1223:by
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1199:by
1187:by
1175:by
946:NPR
692:NPR
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