Redeployment: National Book Award Winner

Phil Klay

Mar 2014 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

"Redeployment is hilarious, biting, whipsawing and sad. It’s the best thing written so far on what the war did to people’s souls.” —Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review

Selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post Book World, Amazon, and more

Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned.  Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos.

In "Redeployment", a soldier who has had to shoot dogs because they were eating human corpses must learn what it is like to return to domestic life in suburbia, surrounded by people "who have no idea where Fallujah is, where three members of your platoon died."  In "After Action Report", a Lance Corporal seeks expiation for a killing he didn't commit, in order that his best friend will be unburdened.  A Morturary Affairs Marine tells about his experiences collecting remains—of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers both.  A chaplain sees his understanding of Christianity, and his ability to provide solace through religion, tested by the actions of a ferocious Colonel.  And in the darkly comic "Money as a Weapons System", a young Foreign Service Officer is given the absurd task of helping Iraqis improve their lives by teaching them to play baseball.  These stories reveal the intricate combination of monotony, bureaucracy, comradeship and violence that make up a soldier's daily life at war, and the isolation, remorse, and despair that can accompany a soldier's homecoming.

Redeployment has become a classic in the tradition of war writing.  Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: one of extremes and one of loss.  Written with a hard-eyed realism and stunning emotional depth, this work marks Phil Klay as one of the most talented new voices of his generation.

Ratings and reviews

Phenomenal book. Gives you an excellent perspective of war from various view points both on the ground and back home. Dark humor mixed with melancholy moments makes for an incredible read. Do yourself the favor and read this. Book of a generation for anyone having lived through Iraq war

Redeployment is a collection of short stories set in Iraq. Far from being depressing or angry or unbalanced, Redeployment finds the middle ground between funny and sad, thoughtful and brash. Somewhere between "Into the Hornets Nest" and "The Kite Runner" youll find Redeployment making you laugh out loud and sob sadly on the toilet. Some of the stories are hit or miss, but while Redeployment might have some lows, its highs are monstrous.

There's not a true war story in this book if you go by Tim O'brien's definition and that's what makes it so good. Each story stands on its on merit and yet still fits into the bigger narrative being drawn. You won't understand OEF or OEF better, but you will get a sense of the men that fought those wars.

About the author

Phil Klay is a veteran of the US Marine Corps and the author of Redeployment, which won the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction, and Missionaries, which was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2020 by the Wall Street Journal. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. He currently teaches fiction at Fairfield University, and is a Board member for Arts in the Armed Forces.