{"product_id":"welcome-to-the-suck-9780801449468","title":"Welcome to the Suck","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur collective memories of World War II and Vietnam have been shaped as much by memoirs, novels, and films as they have been by history books. In Welcome to the Suck, Stacey Peebles examines the growing body of contemporary war stories in prose, poetry, and film that speak to the American soldier's experience in the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStories about war always encompass ideas about initiation, masculinity, cross-cultural encounters, and trauma. Peebles shows us how these timeless themes find new expression among a generation of soldiers who have grown up in a time when it has been more acceptable than ever before to challenge cultural and societal norms, and who now have unprecedented and immediate access to the world away from the battlefield through new media and technology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo Gulf War memoirs by Anthony Swofford (Jarhead) and Joel Turnipseed (Baghdad Express) provide a portrait of soldiers living and fighting on the cusp of the major political and te\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRemarkable literature and film are beginning to emerge from both the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War. Peebles explores the new landscape of such works.... Along the way, the author demarcates the new digital battlefield—blogs and Skype—that should reduce alienation but paradoxically call it into heightened relief. Part of the context of these works is the cynicism of the soldiers whose first political memory is, as Peebles puts it, an image of Monica Lewinsky, but who are still idealistic as they enter the war. This classic disjuncture empowers these works and transforms the destruction, waste, stupidity, and disillusionment that are part of all wars into powerful, moving art. Summing Up: Highly recommended for all readers.\u003c\/p\u003e * Choice *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction1. Lines of Sight: Watching War in \u003ci\u003eJarhead\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMy War: Killing Time in Iraq\u003c\/i\u003e2. Making a Military Man: Iraq, Gender, and the Failure of the Masculine Collective3. Consuming the Other: Blinding Absence in \u003ci\u003eThe Last True Story I'll Ever Tell\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHere, Bullet\u003c\/i\u003e4. One of U.S.: Combat Trauma on Film in \u003ci\u003eAlive Day Memories\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eIn the Valley of Elah\u003c\/i\u003eConclusionBibliography\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49405134897495,"sku":"9780801449468","price":23.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780801449468.jpg?v=1730488832","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/welcome-to-the-suck-9780801449468","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}