JARHEAD

Swofford was a Marine sniper during the Gulf War of 1991. However, that conflict takes up only a small part of this memoir. Most of this stream-of-consciousness recollection is the author telling us of his life as a military brat, his youth, and his experiences in the Corps before the events of 1991. Swofford's world is one of brutality and sex and things that seem more than they are. Swofford reads his own work in an understated, somewhat monotonous voice. He is deadpan but has much intensity. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]