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Generation Kill

by Evan Wright (Goodreads Author)

4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 · rating details · 6,271 ratings · 541 reviews

Generation Kill is about the young men sent to fight their nation's first open-ended war since Vietnam. Despite the flurry of media images to come of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, you have never really met any of these people, who serve as front-line troops. For whatever reason, the media simply doesn't get them. As we all know, news accounts of the last two war...more

Paperback, 463 pages

Published 2009 by Corgi (Random House Group) (first published May 20th 2004)

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Mar 14, 2011 Silvana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, nonfiction, military-espionage, history, own, favorites

US Marines. Jarheads. Devil Dogs. Many names to call them but none could really embody the essence and the spirit. Compared with the other military branches in the US Armed Forces, I think this one is the most unique, and thus most intriguing. This memoir told a story about the marines based on direct view from a reporter (from Rolling Stones magazine) who was embedded in the First Recon Battalion, one of the first units deployed in and entering Iraq in 2003. Cynics or critics may say this is a...more

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Jun 23, 2009 Visha Burkart rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Disclaimer: This reviewer is a gentle and peaceful person. Truly.
Interestingly, although I posted this review almost a year ago, I haven't heard from a goodreads person ("community manager") until now about it. Possibly because Evan Wright has become a "goodreads author"? Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but possibly goodreads wants to become "Lifetime Books" or literally, "Good Reads" - they don't want critical reviews or anything negative written about their "goodreads authors". In the s...more Disclaimer: This reviewer is a gentle and peaceful person. Truly.
Interestingly, although I posted this review almost a year ago, I haven't heard from a goodreads person ("community manager") until now about it. Possibly because Evan Wright has become a "goodreads author"? Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but possibly goodreads wants to become "Lifetime Books" or literally, "Good Reads" - they don't want critical reviews or anything negative written about their "goodreads authors". In the spirit of placating folks, I am cheerfully revising my review. However, I won't be promoting their website to authors, readers and writers as I have in the past.

***

[I was able to get this book from the library, so I didn't feel as though I wasted money on it. The edition I read was a hardcover, and one of the first things that grabbed my attention was the mistake Wright made by noting Camp Lejeune was in South Carolina. For those who are without maps, the Internet, or other fact-checkers, Camp Lejeune is in Jacksonville, North Carolina.:]

I would have had far more respect for this book if it were fiction. The characters that appear are well-described (Doc Bryan is my favorite), the situations are wonderfully tense, the complexities of a bureaucratic system (the military) are woven fairly well. Having lavished such praise, I must now confess that I found certain aspects of the book disappointing. Overall, I doubt Wright could come up with such material; thankfully, the people, places, and times he writes about are fascinating enough on their own: this story could write itself.

Wright gets his feet wet but disappears just before the dawn of this large-scale war. His book was written as a series of articles for Rolling Stone, then packed together with cardboard on either end to make a book. However, Wright seems to think he's as badass as the "cowboy" Marines (those reservists who screw up over and over again and drive the Recon Marines crazy) just because he spent a couple of weeks in a sand-grave, baby-sat by real trained killers who had to risk their lives just a little bit more because this candy-ass was with them.

This is the MTV-news of Iraq-War writing. Wright is clearly beside himself to be near the "men's men" of the military - Marine Recon units, who are the last all-male combat frontier. Wright salivates over his assignment, positing himself as one of the guys, despite the fact that he's as much of a Marine as I am. He reveals the motley crew as surprisingly sensitive, intelligent, and mostly level-headed, not so much through his own writing, but by comparison - in his own mind, he encompasses the bravado, machismo that a Rolling Stone reporter can only do. I couldn't help but think what this series - and book - would have been if written by a better reporter, even one from Rolling Stone - PJ O'Rourke, perhaps?

Wright does make an interesting choice: while thoroughly identifying the enlisted Marines, he choses to give code-names to certain officers who "show their asses" as the operation unfolds - Encino Man, Casey Kasem, and Captain America (an offensively inept individual who should have been identified so the public could scream for his dischargement). Of course, Wright couldn't come up with such clever names - he borrows the ones designed by the Marines. But his choice to use the code-names rather than the real names of these officers smacks of cowardice. Was he afraid of legal action against himself? Was Rolling Stone?

Perhaps because Wright was one of the early writers of the war, this book got a ton of press, won magazine awards (I have to insert this joke here: "Awards are like hemorrhoids; sooner or later, every asshole gets some."), and HBO bought the rights to make "the movie" - somewhat like "The Hills" in Iraq. Thankfully, better books have since been written, and if you want to spend your time and money wisely, invest in Dexter Filkins' The Forever War, a far superior book in every way.(less)

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Jan 10, 2009 Hayley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Readers curious about Iraq invasion or Marines, Readers who like dark humor and grit

I knew virtually nothing about the Iraq invasion--especially the conditions on the ground. This book made much of the military strategy (and some of the most shocking, sad, and funny moments) quite real to me. It did so without losing me in military terminology, or seeming patronizing by dumbing it down *too* much. The author's tone was appropriately masculine and efficient.

My greatest commendation goes to the author's contrast between the inexperienced young men going in and their more jaded se...more

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Apr 25, 2009 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is something that Evan Wright was able to do in writing this book that the other authors, even the award winners like Dexter Filkins and Steve Fainaru, were not able to do and that is extricate himself from the story and allow it to be solely about the men. Wright is so invisible in the mix that you forget he is riding along in the humvee with the rest of the recon marines. He is able to so skillfully express who these men were and what they are all about, that the entire work reads like f...more

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Nov 14, 2008 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am still digesting this book and will for awhile, I suspect. The author was an embedded reporter in First Recon Marine battalion in the early days of the Iraq war. First Recon Marines do just that---go in first, before anybody else, and open up the way. The descriptions are brutal, graphic and sometimes unbearable. As a woman and a mother, I was devastated at the sights and sounds and experiences of these young men. Iraq is hell for everyone--soldiers and Iraqi citizens alike. For the American...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Gayle Francis Moffet rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, january-2011, 2011, 2012, july-2012

Evan Wright was a reporter from Rolling Stone who got into the back of a Humvee with a group of Recon Marines and wrote about them tearing through Iraq in the early days of "Operation Iraqi Freedom." The book is equal parts astounding, shocking, and hilariously funny. Wright doesn't pull any punches regarding the men he's covering. They swear (a lot). They talk about how they enjoy killing (a lot). They bitch and moan and even get mildly mutinous at their superiors.

The result is a book that's s...more

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Sep 24, 2008 Xon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Xon by: Marines

Shelves: war

A couple of Marines who were in Iraq told me to read this book because it accurately described a bunch of young kids invading Iraq. So I guess the fact that I thought the book was just OK would be more of how I feel about Iraq than how the well the book is written. These marines go into Iraq and meet very little resistance. There are no major battles, no overcoming of impossible odds, and no stories of heroism. I have become accustomed to being overwhelmed with bravery and heroic acts when I rea...more

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Aug 05, 2007 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Upon finishing the last page, I immediately turned back to the first page and began reading the book from the beginning. This is an astonishing first person account of the first week of the Iraq invasion from the perspective of a writer embedded with the Marines. If the U.S. advancing forces were a spear, the rangers preceded the spear's tip. Apolitical, Generation Kill puts you amidst the chaos, sorrow, and weirdness of the Iraq War's first week. The writer does nothing to critique U.S. policy...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Speedtribes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: military, nonfiction

I saw the HBO miniseries first, and then rushed out to find the book as soon as I could. The book gives a broader view of events than the series, as the writer goes out for extra interviews/research/reporting to get more information. He explains a lot of the 'whys?' I ended up with while watching the story play out on tv. The book turns out as readable as the series is watchable, coming across as a not-so family friendly road trip set in the backdrop of a war.

I loved this book. So. Much. The sol...more I saw the HBO miniseries first, and then rushed out to find the book as soon as I could. The book gives a broader view of events than the series, as the writer goes out for extra interviews/research/reporting to get more information. He explains a lot of the 'whys?' I ended up with while watching the story play out on tv. The book turns out as readable as the series is watchable, coming across as a not-so family friendly road trip set in the backdrop of a war.

I loved this book. So. Much. The soldiers are so crude, unhesitating and all too willing to fling the foulest, rudest, nastiest insults at each other - and yet it's still clear that, even if they were all the sorts of people who'd hate each other if they were civilians, as marines they loved and would die for each other at the drop of a hat. It felt strangely inspiring, reading their experiences, even as the socially polite part of my brain winced.

It helped, also, that because the reporter was placed in the first car, we were able to get a focal point to constantly return to in a sea of unfamiliar names and places.

The book is peppered with explanations for all the unfamiliar technical terms and lingo, but they're presented in such a manner that they didn't feel dumbed down. I didn't notice much of a leftist or conservative slant. I felt like the writer was doing his best to simply write what he saw and felt as it happened - the good, the bad, the hilarious. He could have left it at that - with the myopic, claustrophobic filter of being trapped in a humvee with no space and no information and terrible communication - but he did go back for additional information to clarify why certain maneuvers had been ordered, even as he makes the point that at the time, no one at their level had been told any of this. The additional information was much appreciated and really put everything into perspective.

I liked that he was not above mocking his own weakness in comparison to these other, far more fit and capable men, and included several humiliating episodes where he clearly showed his weak civilian ways.

I am told that an earlier addition of Gen Kill doesn't have the afterwards where he talks about where the soldiers are now? If that's the case, I'd recommend making sure you're buying a newer edition. (less)

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Apr 30, 2013 Emmalee Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a fabulous book. The HBO mini series of the same name is based off of this book...which is written by a journalist, Even Wright, who travelled with the first recon marines into the initial invasion of Iraq. All of the marines mentioned in this book are extremely brave, however, not all of them are very competent. Although, that might have more to do with the fact that this was the first time the recon marines have been in a caravan as opposed to doing reconnaissance missions which is wha...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Michael Burnam-fink rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, war

Generation Kill is the definitive cultural history of the invasion of Iraq, an honest account of war and the men who fight in it, and a damn good read.

Wright spent the invasion embedded with Bravo Company, First Marine Recon, and he mostly lets the men speak for themselves, liberally quoting their personal philosophies, reflections on battle, and back-and-forth bullshit. These vignettes are balanced by Wright's personal reflections on being shot at, mortared, and taking part in what I can only d...more Generation Kill is the definitive cultural history of the invasion of Iraq, an honest account of war and the men who fight in it, and a damn good read.

Wright spent the invasion embedded with Bravo Company, First Marine Recon, and he mostly lets the men speak for themselves, liberally quoting their personal philosophies, reflections on battle, and back-and-forth bullshit. These vignettes are balanced by Wright's personal reflections on being shot at, mortared, and taking part in what I can only describe as History's Worst Roadtrip.

A little criticism and comparison. Wright occasionally flubs some technical military stuff (how mortars work, FLIR) which some people might find annoying. He gives more 'screen-time' to outspoken Marines who match his attitudes, like Espera and Reyes, than the quieter and more conservative southerners. This is a just a month-long slice of the American military at the peak of its power and confidence, before the worst effects of the Long War took hold. Compared to the HBO miniseries, the book is better paced--war truly is long periods of boredom interspersed with absolute terror--and that makes for problematic TV. Generation Kill is generally easier to read and grasp than Fick's One Bullet Away because Wright, like most of us, is an outsider to the Marines (not that Fick is a bad writer: he's quite skilled, but Wright makes a living with the pen and there's a clear difference), while at the same time being more sensationalized. Really though, there's no reason not to check out all of these versions of the story.

The Marines of First Recon are depicted as supremely skilled killers eager to test themselves against the Ultimate. They're ironic patriots, mocking the Marines indoctrination and moto BS while enthusiastically basing their identified around warrior machismo. The best of them balance cold-blooded sharpshooting with moral sensitivity. They keep going, despite nonsensical orders, no sleep, no supplies, and a mission that they didn't train for.

Generation Kill is a great book, one that can only be described with the two most important words in the whole Marine Corps: Get some!(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wright does a very good job with storytelling: the scene description, character presentation/development and dialogue, gripping intense situations, intelligible comprehension of rather frustrating and complex military bureaucracy, broader current context and some glimpses into historical context without being too in depth and loosing focus.

I do wonder how often Wright's interpretation is incorrect or if he has an alternate agenda rather than just reporting the facts of what happened, because it...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Ensiform rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, war

The author, a journalist at “Rolling Stone,” rides fully embedded with Marines of the First Recon Battalion as they spearhead the initial drive into Iraq, blazing through small towns and dealing with jihadists, fayadeen, and forward observers disguised as civilians. They sleep in “Ranger graves” (small holes in the sand) and talk nonchalantly as tracers whizz by overhead. With a keen ear for rough dialogue and a flair for making his subjects seem real and three-dimensional, Wright depicts the yo...more The author, a journalist at “Rolling Stone,” rides fully embedded with Marines of the First Recon Battalion as they spearhead the initial drive into Iraq, blazing through small towns and dealing with jihadists, fayadeen, and forward observers disguised as civilians. They sleep in “Ranger graves” (small holes in the sand) and talk nonchalantly as tracers whizz by overhead. With a keen ear for rough dialogue and a flair for making his subjects seem real and three-dimensional, Wright depicts the young military men as brash, not particularly worldly, honest, brave, stoic in hardship, and skilled. At the same time, he’s honest about the crude, racist language they use, their less sophisticated demeanors, and other flaws some of the Marines show.

The fact that Wright captures the men warts and all makes his depictions of two unnamed commanders all the more astonishing. One, nicknamed “Captain America,” is so utterly incompetent in every conceivable way (wrong each and every time about everything from coming under fire to the right direction to the hospital), and vicious to the point of arguably committing war crimes, it’s hard to believe. But Wright seems a reliable reporter, and when he tells how this or another officer blunders again, or how the men don’t have the right batteries or equipment for a task, his convincing style makes the point hit home. It’s all the more powerful because Wright lets facts do the talking, rather than commenting on them himself. When he lets Captain America tell his side of a controversy, the reader can sense the spin rather than the facts. One over-arching message of the book, aside from how worthy of respect the men of this battalion are in many ways, is that from the top, the war is in the hands of fools or evil people. One Iraqi says to the men, “You are tearing this country apart. I do not think you will fix it.” And that’s exactly the point. On ground level, the men can tell that the absence of humanitarian aid is undermining all the good the military is doing by killing insurgents, and at least one commander is personally hurt when he comes to realize no aid will follow the army. It’s a masterfully written book, and hard to put down. I found myself torn between cheering for these brave warriors and weeping at the waste of such promising, powerful forces. (less)

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Dec 02, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

This book was fascinating and terrifying and heartbreaking and obnoxious and shocking and predictable all at the same time. I read it as fast as I could.

The best part of the book is getting to know the men of the unit. Quite a lot of them are just weird. Not necessarily psycho (although some of them were - Trombley seriously seemed like a sociopath, and Captain America seemed both unintelligent and unhinged), but most of them were just really odd. Besides the usual obnoxious obsession with "male...more This book was fascinating and terrifying and heartbreaking and obnoxious and shocking and predictable all at the same time. I read it as fast as I could.

The best part of the book is getting to know the men of the unit. Quite a lot of them are just weird. Not necessarily psycho (although some of them were - Trombley seriously seemed like a sociopath, and Captain America seemed both unintelligent and unhinged), but most of them were just really odd. Besides the usual obnoxious obsession with "maleness" and the racism and sexism and so on that the military tends to breed, these guys just said and did the weirdest things. Most of them seemed intelligent and perceptive and at least semi-decent (if desensitized and crude), but something about them was just a little messed up. It was so interesting to learn about their lives and backgrounds and to see them interact with each other and with Iraqi civilians. They were just so human. One minute they'd be saying some stupid racist or silly macho bullshit and I'd be rolling my eyes and the next minute they'd be making some poignant remark on the function of war and the changing landscape of American involvement in international affairs. It was especially jarring to read their story and then look at the pictures of them in the middle of the book - they're just so young. Trombley, the sociopath who gets a little too trigger-happy with civilians, is nineteen. That's my age. Of course, he's older now, but still. It seems so bizarre.

Also interesting was reading about the Iraq maneuver warfare strategy from a modern-day perspective. It's actually really depressing reading about the plans to rush through and take out resistance. Because they do this very well, but you can just see the vacuum being created that fueled the civil wars and insurgent fighting that we're still dealing with today. The units basically come to a town, blow up any resistance, hand out a few humanitarian rations to the civilians who ask, and keep going, leaving the rubble and looting and mess and devastation behind them as they move on. Not the soldiers' faults, obviously, since they're just following orders, but it's still terrible. I can't imagine being a civilian living there or a Marine having to blow everything up and move on like that.

Five stars for story and characters. I took off a star because the author annoyed me a bit. First of all, he tried way too hard to be cool. His writing was decent and very readable, but not nearly as good as he seemed to think it was. He seemed to buy into the whole macho Marine bit, and he tended to relate to the men a LITTLE too much (there were some moments when I thought he was projecting onto the Marines or putting thoughts into their heads and words into their mouths). Embedded journalism can provide an interesting view on the war but I think it has to be taken with a grain of salt, since he's depending on these men for safety and becoming friends with them - it's not like he had any real measure of objectivity when he finished his "tour." It makes for very readable and engrossing material but in terms of actual reporting, I didn't think it seemed very reliable. (This is totally off-topic, but I just stalked Wright's Goodreads page and found out through the "compare books" feature that he gave Pride and Prejudice five stars. How odd - I wouldn't have thought him the Austen type. It kind of makes me like him more...funny how learning what books someone likes can completely change your opinion of them. Or maybe I'm just too judgmental.)

Anyways, Generation Kill is a really good book. I learned a ton from it. I would definitely recommend it. I can't wait to see the HBO miniseries, too.(less)

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Oct 17, 2011 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

This is an incredible book of combat and the "fog of war." The book reads like such great fiction that if he didn't mention it you wouldn't realize that the author was there for the whole thing. The narratives of combat are enthralling, sobering, and thought-provoking. Two of the most fascinating things about this book are: (1) the "fog of war" aspect, where even though these soldiers are incredibly eager to get into combat, when they do they seem disillusioned by the fact that, sometimes, the p...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Caity rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Caity by: A Marine

Shelves: non-fiction, political-commentary, military, favorites

I thought this was a fabulous glimpse into military life in wartime. I was recommended by a Marine friend of mine to watch the HBO series based on the book. The series was only on Netflix as a DVD option, and we only have streaming. Then I realized it was a book and (as is usually the case) I was glad I found out before I watched the series.

I had just watched Restrepo (also at the bequest of my friend) and I was afraid the book was going to be a lot like Restrepo. Restrepo is a fabulous wartime...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Dave added it · review of another edition

Twenty-five years from now, this book will be the defining piece on the average grunts in the run up and initial invasion of Iraq. It started as a series of articles that the author, who was embedded with a company of Marines, did for Rolling Stone (ironically, it was a Marine Recon unit, which is the rough equivalent to the Army Rangers in the Marines, but they get stuck driving north in Humvees just like everyone else). The articles evolved into something more and this book in the result. Like...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book touts itself as not merely a gritty account of the Iraq invasion (because, let's face it! These are a dime a dozen, especially from reporters) but as a window into understanding the generation of soldiers who voluntarily took part in what is now widely acknowledged as an ineffective and unnecessary war. While it does an excellent job of providing riveting, boots-on-the-ground perspective from a journalist embedded with a platoon repeatedly placed at the "tippety-tip" of America's letha...more This book touts itself as not merely a gritty account of the Iraq invasion (because, let's face it! These are a dime a dozen, especially from reporters) but as a window into understanding the generation of soldiers who voluntarily took part in what is now widely acknowledged as an ineffective and unnecessary war. While it does an excellent job of providing riveting, boots-on-the-ground perspective from a journalist embedded with a platoon repeatedly placed at the "tippety-tip" of America's lethal invasion "spear" during the spring of 2003, it fails in its larger aim to give us insight into the larger society of youthful Marines, aside from its repeated allusions to the brotherhood of war (and the ability of young men to bond with those outside their social class and ethnicity, which seems to really throw Wright for a loop), a few comments about the morally troublesome decisions made during the heat of engagement, and a suggestion that these kids have such short attention spans that a couple of firefights doesn't quench their killing fire: instead, "they need more war." Yawn. What volunteer force isn't willing and able to go the gory distance? That's their whole purpose, is it not?
What I DID find useful and provocative here, though, was Wright's ability to lay bare the absurdity, lack of overall strategy, and technological limitations (especially when it came to inter-battalion communication) that hampered American forces in their initial invasion effort in Iraq all those years ago. In some ways, the snafus during this period were eerily similar to the communications problems that doomed dozens of first responders, if not more, to die in the Twin Towers on 9/11. All those blinded by the idea that American ingenuity will save us all, look no farther than this volume for a taste of technological Cassandraism.
A pretty good page turner of a memoir about the initial Iraq engagement (questionable bonus: I learned a lot about the pooping habits of enlisted Marines!), but look elsewhere for deep thoughts about war. (less)

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May 14, 2011 Oliver rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: islamic-world

A fascinating account by Rolling Stone journalist Wright of his time spent as a reporter with a crack Marine reconnaissance unit during the Iraq War. I came at this having watched David Simon's screenplay on the HBO mini series - which I enjoyed but didn’t understand half of the time! The book is an astoundingly honest account of life on the front line and the ironies and paradoxes involved. 1st Recon are an elite stealth unit yet they are led by an incompetent and politically self-serving chain...more

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May 13, 2011 B rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's cute... I mean, there may be some basis in truth but as a rational human being I come to the conclusion that the author drank the kool-aid and went from bisexual Rolling Stone writer to flag-waving proponent of the worlds most bastardized military organization. Goddamn autocorrect. Or maybe he did whatever he thought would sell some dead trees.

Sell it does, turning the words from a series of short-form magazine articles to a hasty book to a television series for HBO- which was fucking epic...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Hannah M. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read, books-i-own, favorites, memoir, non-fiction, war

Evan Wright, a journalist spent two months embedded with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion Marines during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Originally, his account was a three part series in Rolling Stone magazine. In 2004, he published Generation Kill, a full length novel.

Generation Kill gives a view of the war from the perspectives of those fighting it. It isn’t bogged down by a bunch of Capitol Hill excuses and it certainly isn’t sugar-coated. Wright himself gets to experience a whole lot during h...more

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Jan 23, 2011 David Cain rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

This was an interesting introduction to our current war in Iraq, written during the start of the invasion in 2004. I've read a number of Vietnam memoirs, and this one had more of an immediacy to it since it was written by an embedded journalist while events were going on rather than by a soldier years after the fact (like many of the well-known Vietnam works). This is not for the faint of heart. Anyone sensitive to discussions of graphic violence and the use of strong language should avoid this....more

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Dec 23, 2010 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read more than a couple negative reviews of Generation Kill, which recounts an embedded journalist's journey with Recon Marines through the first stage of 'Iraqi Freedom.' These folks all seem dismayed that the young marines are portrayed as reckless, or crass, or lacking heroism. That there were no real obstacles, that their mission was mishandled, or futile.

I think that was the whole point. Like a slice of the war as a whole, their superiors made terrible judgment calls, they took an una...more

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Aug 14, 2010 shana naomi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

after seeing stark sands in american idiot on broadway i was seized by an intense need to do nothing but watch him in anything anywhere - which led me to finally finish watching the seven-part HBO miniseries based on this book, which led to me finally finishing the book that HBO sent me a couple years back when they were promoting the series. (i'd actually read the rolling stone articles on which the book was based when they were first published, my only timely achievement.)

it probably helped t...more after seeing stark sands in american idiot on broadway i was seized by an intense need to do nothing but watch him in anything anywhere - which led me to finally finish watching the seven-part HBO miniseries based on this book, which led to me finally finishing the book that HBO sent me a couple years back when they were promoting the series. (i'd actually read the rolling stone articles on which the book was based when they were first published, my only timely achievement.)

it probably helped to read this as a companion to the HBO series - i always struggle a bit in war shows to tell one buzzcut white guy from another - but it also left me so impressed with the adaptation from book to screen. not so surprising, given the show was made by david simon & ed burns of the wire/treme, two men who undeniably know how to dig into a subculture and just let you eavesdrop, even if it doesn't always make sense or flow like you'd expect a story to.

there's more of evan wright, the reporter, in the show - he's a character, not a mostly transparent narrator - but deservedly so. this is a complicated, nuanced, painful investigation into the soldiers actually required to carry out a dubious, often completely fucked up, badly communicated, possibly unnecessary war. every soldier is a character, a person, and though there's plenty of larger lens military strategy underpinning the narrative, because no one knows that until after the invasion is over, the storytelling is all in the interaction, in this small group of men trying to make sense of their own role in a giant clusterfuck, to be honorable in the face of confusing, contradictory orders, to continue respecting this machine to which they voluntarily submitted and subjugated themselves to for some larger (usually) reason.

it's rare to find a book and a movie/series that only enrich each other, never detracting with too much "but in the book it said" confusion. there's some conflation, some focus, applied to series, but also i'd say some 90 percent of the dialogue is verbatim from the text. (less)

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Jul 18, 2010 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A coworker gave me this book to read after we were talking about David Simon, who was a writer for the HBO miniseries based on the book, and about people we knew who had been in the marines. I didn't enjoy the book, but slogged through it out of politeness. Probably a bad reason. I stopped about 100 pages before the end, too. The book is way too long, I think. We don't really need to live the entire 2 months with him.

The author was embedded with Marines invading Iraq for two months at the start...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Brigita rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book had a strong impact on me in so many varied ways. It reads like a quick-paced thriller, a horror story, comedy, character drama and more, and all this while staying true to the facts of the first few weeks of the American invasion in Iraq in 2003.

My first contact with Generation Kill was the TV series I came across while researching war for a piece I was writing. The series and book differ slightly, although the difference is more in the manner of presenting things than in the core sto...more

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Apr 16, 2010 Brett Starr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Amazing book about the beginning of the war in Iraq.

The book follows the Marine Corps 1st Recon company as they blindly enter war in Iraq, literally not knowing exactly what their mission is or what to really expect.

I served in the Marine Corps with an infantry battalion, I got out right before the invasion of Iraq. The author Evan Wright, captures what it is to be a Marine and the camaraderie of the Corps perfectly. Wright's descriptions and Marine terms are right on, he did an amazing job wi...more

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Sep 03, 2009 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, non-fiction, political, read-in-2009, travel

Ten things I learned from Generation Kill that I really should have known already:

10.) A shamal is a wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf that can cause horrible dust storms. The resulting weather can make things like driving, sleeping in the open, and not getting putrid, red eye infections difficult.

9.) Sabka is a geological phenomenon particular to the Middle East which appears to be plain desert, with a crust of sand about an inch thick, but beneath that crust is quicksand made of ta...more

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Jul 11, 2009 Nicholas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoir

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Awesome. The show was a pretty faithful representation of the book.

Story of the pointy tip of the spear of the Iraq invasion.

Quotes:

"Not one of them hesitates to shoot back. In World War Two, when Marines hit the beaches, a surprisingly high percentage of them didn't fire their weapons, even when faced with direct enemy contact. They hesitated. Not these guys. Did you see what they did to that town? They fucking destroyed it. These guys have no problem with killing."

"His goal was not to shield h...more

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Aug 14, 2009 Pete rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

Giving "Generation Kill" a full 5-star rating after giving "As I Lay Dying" and "Slaughterhouse 5" 4-star ratings feels a tad lazy, really. I could pretend to be fancier than I am, and claim that I enjoyed my first foray (!) into Faulkner and Vonnegut more than I enjoyed this 350 page, easily digestible account of some totally bad ass Marines fighting in Iraq, but I won't. I liked the Faulkner and Vonnegut books, sure, and I intend to read more by each author, but "Generation Kill" resonates mor...more

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About Evan Wright

That "author's photo" of me is an illustration done by my friend Hawk Krall, an awesome artist from Philly.

I had an odd path to writing which I describe in the first chapter of Hella Nation.

For the most part, my biography is contained in the books and articles I publish.

More about Evan Wright...

Books by Evan Wright

Hella Nation: Looking for Happy Meals in Kandahar, Rocking the Side Pipe,Wingnut's War Against the GAP, and Other Adventures with the Totally Lost Tribes of America

American Desperado: My Life--From Mafia Soldier to Cocaine Cowboy to Secret Government Asset

Hero Living: Seven Strides to Awaken Your Infinite Power

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Quotes from Generation Kill: Devil...

“We're like America's little pit bull. They beat it, starve it, mistreat it, and once in a while they let it out to attack somebody.” — 27 people liked it

“You know what happens when you get out of the Marine Corps," Person continues. "you get you brains back.” — 13 people liked it

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