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English
Vintage
15 April 2014
'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.
By:  
Imprint:   Vintage
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 24mm
Weight:   267g
ISBN:   9780099581482
ISBN 10:   0099581485
Pages:   384
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

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.

Reviews for Fobbit

As funny, disturbing, heartbreaking and ridiculous as war itself New York Times Book Review Brilliant and excruciating -- Patrick Hennessey The Times Abrams has a definite comic talent and a lively turn of phrase -- Sam Leith Guardian [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 Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn 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 The Washington Post


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