Fobbit Audiobook

" Mixed bag. I was happy to find a novel, written by an Iraq vet, focusing on the experience of non-combat soldiers, the Fobbits (Forward Operating Base) of the title. It was a part of the Vietnam story that was pretty much ignored until Doug Bradley's DEROS was published last year, and it's good to have it in the mix from early in the fiction the recent/current wars. Abrams makes no secret of his debt to Catch 22; the tone of Fobbit is darkly satirical and sometimes the humor works in a Helleresque manner. The portrait of military incompetence--familiar enough in the literature of Vietnam and other wars--is particularly withering. Abrams does a good job satirizing the military's attempt to "spin" stories in ways that have zip to do with reality. Borderline unbelievable, but in this case, Abrams convinced me that that's because the reality is borderline unbelievable. Often, though, you can feel Abrams straining for effect. Which is to say, Fobbit's a first novel and sometimes it shows. The use of e-mails and journals distances us from the characters and is fairly clearly a way of inserting editorial commentary at some points. The biggest problem with the book, though, had to do with Abrams' tone in regard to his rear-echelon characters. At times, it felt like he just didn't like them and was portraying them with open contempt. That may be a realistic reflection of how the soldiers who handle the missions feel about those living inside Saddam's palace (as the major characters here do). But I doubt that the fobbits themselves see themselves in one-dimensional terms. Just wanted more depth of character. Worth reading and for now, the best book on its subject. "

" What I have read about the war in Iraq is homogenized and bland. This satire opened my eyes to why. "

" I picked this book up at the bookstore on a whim. I usually enjoy novels about life in the military and about the irrational absurdity of a lot of the things that go on there. This book set out to chronicle the life of "Fobbits" in the U.S. Army. Admittedly, this would be an easy group to satirize. But even with the abdundance of potential material, the author fails to provide a compelling or even marginally entertaining story. The plot is very predictable and the ending was not particularly satisfying. The characters are cartoonish caricatures of military types. The dialog is stilted. The author presents no admirable or even sympathetic characters and attempts to present the entire U.S. military as unworthy of the respect. Maybe it's just too close to the actual events in time to be writing a book like this so close on the heels of the military action in Iraq. I kept on to the end hoping it would improve mainly based on the favorable dust jacket endorsement by Karl Marlantes who wrote Matterhorn and did a much better job of capturing some of the absurdities of war in the life of a marine in the Vietnam War. "

" For me, it was one of those books that I couldn't wait until I had the time to read a little more. At times laugh out loud funny but also makes you think about the difficulties our soldiers must face on a daily basis.A very enjoyable read. "

" Reads more like The Office in army fatigue "

" Really more like a 3.5 than a 3. This is a modern-day Catch-22 based in Iraq. Yes, I learned about that war and its warriors, and what our troops faced, and, yes, it was amusing. "

" Simply plotted, character driven inside look at what goes on behind the scenes of a Forward Observation Base (FOB in Iraq where the Army press corp spins their version of what is going on. Muscular and gritty prose. Good stuff. "

" The book was supposed to be "hilarious". I tee-hee'd at some points, but that was about it. Perhaps if I'd served in the military, I'd have gotten more out of it since I'd recognize the Fobbits in my own unit. Enjoyable all the same "

" Great use of humor in a tragic setting. "

" I liked the commentary on modern war (the cell phone calls home, the gift packages from strangers, and the need to handle the media), but overall the book didn't do much for me. I already knew war could be stupid, boring, and darkly funny --- this didn't really add anything to that. "

" This book might be better than a 3, but I didn't finish it. It was funny! But really long and I just couldn't get into it. "

" I don't like to read about war. This book was an exception. I enjoyed every minute of it. "