Spent Shell Casings

Book excerpt: "Dave was there for it all--there for the millennial latch-key children's plunge into bloody and politically-dubious combat, there for the US military's rocky evolution from Cold War Era to fighting the global war on terror, and there for his own turblent, colorful transitions--all in the unforgiving jungles of hyper-masculinity. . . . An artistic nail-bomb: 'Spent Shell Casings' encompasses just about every sordid and hilarious aspect of military life that could ever grace a page, all the while exposing the dark sides of adventure and the fighting man in ways that can no longer be ignored. Whether Iraq, a psych ward, or a barroom brawl, coming to terms with one's upbringing or drug abuse: join a Recon Marine at various points on the deadly map of war, meaning, and the American experience."--Back cover.