Fobbit
Author(s): David Abrams
Fobbit fa-b t, noun. Definition: A U.S. soldier stationed at a Forward Operating Base who avoids combat by remaining at the base, esp. during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011). Pejorative. Staff Sergeant Chance Gooding works for the army public affairs office and spends his days tap-ping out press releases to try to turn the latest roadside bomb into something the public can read about while eating their breakfast cereal. He is most definitely a Fobbit. Fobbit takes us into the cha-otic world of Baghdad's Forward Operating Base Triumph. The FOB is the back-office of the battlefield - where the soldiers eat and sleep between missions, and where a lot of Army employees have what looks suspiciously like an office job. What goes on at the FOB doesn't exactly fit the image of war that the army and the government want to portray: male and female soldiers are trying to find an empty Porta-Potty in which to get acquainted, grunts are playing Xbox between missions, and most of the senior staff are more concerned about getting to the chow hall in time for the Friday night all-you-can-eat seafood special than worrying about little things like military strategy.
But, as Staff Sergeant Gooding finds out, things can very quickly spiral out of control even in this seemingly protected environment. Based on the author's own experiences serving in Iraq, Fobbit is like Catch-22 and Mash, in fusing dark humour with pathos to create a brilliantly witty and profound work about life in the modern-day war zone.
General Information
- :
- : Vintage
- : Vintage
- : 0.265
- : 01 April 2014
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 June 2014
- : books
Other Specifications
- : David Abrams
- : Paperback
- : 384
More About The Product
'The Iraq War's answer to Catch-22' Publisher's Weekly A Notable Book of the Year - New York Times Book Review One of Amazon.com's Top 100 Best Books of 2012 Shortlisted for the LA Times First Novel Award
"As funny, disturbing, heartbreaking and ridiculous as war itself" New York Times Book Review "Brilliant and excruciating" -- Patrick Hennessey The Times "Abrams has a definite comic talent and a lively turn of phrase" -- Sam Leith Guardian "[Hilarious]... It is the rare writer - indeed, the rare person - who can step outside of himself and see with cold clarity the humor and pathos of his situation and then bring the reader to the same understanding. David Abrams is such a writer" Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn "Fobbit blends fiction and journalism, an apt reflection of literary influences combined with [Abrams's] experience in an Army public affairs team... Though absurd, these Dickensian characters are all so skillfully wrought that we quickly accept their idiosyncrasies... What's most intriguing about this work is that, at its center, it is both a clever study in anxiety and an unsettling expose of how the military tells its truths" The Washington Post
David Abrams served in the U.S. Army for twenty years, and was deployed to Iraq in 2005 as part of a public affairs team. His stories have appeared in Esquire, Narrative and other literary magazines.
