Uncertain Ground

December 1, 2021

After serving in Iraq as an officer in the U.S. Marines, Klay returned home to produce two exceptional pieces of fiction shaped by his experience of war: the National Book Award-winning story collection Redeployment and the debut novel Missionaries, best-booked by the Wall Street Journal. Here he collects essays written over the past decade that explore what the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have really meant to the people of the United States, for whom the fighting itself has been essentially invisible. What are the consequences when only a small group of Americans--soldiers and their families--are impacted by war? How can civic duty be defined under such circumstances? Can the United States justly ask for such sacrifices? Why are these military actions kept under wraps? And how are these wars really affecting the country today?

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 28, 2022
Klay, a Marine Corps veteran and National Book Award winner (for the story collection Redeployment), makes his nonfiction debut with this incisive collection of previously published essays on the “Global War on Terror”: “a conflict that has lasted so long, and at such a low ebb that most Americans can pretend it isn’t happening.” In “We Have No Idea What We’re Doing in Iraq. We Didn’t Before We Killed Suleimani,” Klay forcefully critiques President Trump’s continuation of Obama’s “policy of airstrikes and deployments of Special Operations troops in support of local forces.” According to Klay, this tactic produced short-term military gains but undermined the stability of the government and contributed to the rise of ISIS and other insurgent groups. In one of the book’s most trenchant pieces, Klay reflects on the “moral dimension” of military service and profiles veterans whose horror at “the human cost of our wars overseas” has led them to public service and international aid work. Elsewhere, he eloquently describes his contempt for “performative rage” as a political device and calls for “civility... a style of argument that implicitly welcomes a response.” Enriched by the author’s military experiences and sharp turns of phrase (“We’re America. We’re good at violence”), this is an astute and often enraging survey of America’s forever wars.

March 15, 2022
Klay, a U.S. Marine war veteran, novelist (Missionaries, 2020), and National Book Award-winner for his short story collection Redeployment (2014), aligns his thoughts and experiences with the soul of a nation in an introspective collection of essays structured in four parts, ""Soldiers,"" ""Citizens,"" ""Writing,"" and ""Faith."" Compelling themes emerge from the first page, like the importance of "clarity of purpose," bonding, and morale in high-stakes conflicts; the stark differences between friendship and camaraderie; and the history, innovation, and problems surrounding guns and modern weaponry. In each essay, Klay's distinctive ideas expose cracks in the ostensibly glossy but unmistakably fragile veneer of our culture. After decades of war, is there still a firm, shared sense of purpose? Are soldiers motivated to fight for causes they may not fully believe in, especially in seemingly endless engagements in which victory and defeat are unclear? How is courage on the battlefield impacted by a splintered, atomized society? As "anti-government rhetoric, paranoia, fear of crime" and other oppressive uncertainties reach fever pitch, Klay's reassuring voice offers truth, hope, and ways forward during a challenging, polarized period in America.

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April 1, 2022

Klay, a former U.S. Marine and author of the acclaimed novel Redeployment, offers essays on war, violence, and literature in this new book. Written over the past 11 years, most of these pieces focus on the United States' involvement in the Iraq War, where Klay served as a public relations officer. Although he did not see combat in Iraq, he did observe first-hand the horrors of war. He writes with anger and sorrow about the casualties of American wars, the psychological damage incurred by soldiers, and the purposelessness of the 21st-century Iraq and Afghanistan Wars over the course of three U.S. presidential administrations. With care, Klay addresses questions of faith, guilt, and collective trauma, offering insights into military culture and the meaning of masculinity. Two pieces that are not directly connected to Iraq stand out: an assessment of the literature of war, from World War I to the present; and an essay on the evolution of firearms in the United States. Klay concludes with a powerful indictment of the catastrophic destruction caused by the United States since 9/11 and of the American public's lack of interest in Iraq and Afghanistan. VERDICT Klay has written an important and eye-opening essay collection that should be a must-read.--Thomas Karel

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.