Reviews
"Incredible--a stunning, moving, subdued masterpiece of a book." -- The Christian Science Monitor "The stories of the soldiers and their families portrayed in Thank You for Your Service possess a visceral and deeply affecting power on their own that will haunt readers long after they have finished this book." -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Finkel sketches a panoramic view of postwar life....A book that every American should read." -- Jake Tapper, Los Angeles Times "His reporting is astonishingly intimate yet utterly respectful, taking us inside the hearts and minds of these men and their families." -- Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times "This is not--nor should it be--an easy book. But it is an essential one." -- Elizabeth D. Samet, The New York Times Book Review "Embedded with the veterans, their families, their friends, and their counselors, Finkel lights up the lives of these struggling souls, who often compound their real problems by convincing themselves they're 'weak' for 'abandoning' their buddies and seeking treatment...Vivid, compelling, heartrending." -- Jeff Stein, Bookforum "Together with its masterful prequel The Good Soldiers , [ Thank You for Your Service ] measures the wages of the war in Iraq--the wages of war, period--as well as anything I've read...[Finkel] atones for our scant attention by paying meticulous heed." -- Frank Bruni, The New York Times "I'm urging everyone I know to give Thank You for Your Service just a few pages, a few minutes out of their busy lives. The families honored in this urgent, important book will take it from there." -- Katherine Boo, National Book Award-winning author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers " Thank You for Your Service is one of the best and truest books I have ever read. David Finkel cuts through all the spin, the excuses, the blowhard politics and mind-deadening metrics to discover the cost of war for the soldiers who fight it and the families they come home to. This extraordinary book will piss you off and break your heart. It will shame you and lift you up. It will bend your mind to the reality of an American war that is now well into its second decade." --Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award and finalist for the National Book Award "In this incredibly moving sequel, Finkel reconnects with some of the men of the 2-16--now home on American soil--and brings their struggles powerfully to life...Told in crisp, unsentimental prose and supplemented with excerpts from soldiers' diaries, medical reports, e-mails, and text messages, their stories give new meaning to the costs of service--and to giving thanks." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "In a series of interconnected stories, Finkel follows a handful of soldiers and their spouses through the painful, sometimes-fatal process of reintegration into American society. The author gives a clear-eyed, frightening portrayal of precisely what it is like to suffer with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury and what it is like to have the specter of suicide whispering into your ear every day." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
