Eat the Apple - A Memoir of the USMC & Iraq

A daring and remarkable memoir which explores the devastating consequences of war on one impressionable young soldier 'Matt Young has written the Iliad of the Iraq War ... This book will strengthen your heart and soul' Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award 'Inventive, unsparing, irreverent and consistently entertaining' New York Times Matt Young joined the Marine Corps aged eighteen, after a drunken night that culminated in him crashing his car into a fire hydrant. The teenage wasteland he fled followed him to the training bases of California. Young survived training and then three deployments to Iraq as an infantryman. Eat the Apple is the response to those years. Visceral, ironic, self-lacerating and ultimately redemptive, Young's story drops us unarmed into Marine Corps culture and lays bare the vulnerability of those on the front lines and the motivations that drove a young man to a life at war. Inventive and unputdownable, Eat the Apple is a powerful coming-of-age story about the devastating consequences of war. "The Iliad of the Iraq war" (Tim Weiner)-a gut-wrenching, beautiful memoir of the consequences of war on the psyche of a young man. Eat the Apple is a daring, twisted, and darkly hilarious story of American youth and masculinity in an age of continuous war. Matt Young joined the Marine Corps at age eighteen after a drunken night culminating in wrapping his car around a fire hydrant. The teenage wasteland he fled followed him to the training bases charged with making him a Marine. Matt survived the training and then not one, not two, but three deployments to Iraq, where the testosterone, danger, and stakes for him and his fellow grunts were dialed up a dozen decibels. With its kaleidoscopic array of literary forms, from interior dialogues to infographics to prose passages that read like poetry, Young's narrative powerfully mirrors the multifaceted nature of his experience. Visceral, ironic, self-lacerating, and ultimately redemptive, Young's story drops us unarmed into Marine Corps culture and lays bare the absurdism of 21st-century war, the manned-up vulnerability of those on the front lines, and the true, if often misguided, motivations that drove a young man to a life at war. Searing in its honesty, tender in its vulnerability, and brilliantly written, Eat the Apple is a modern war classic in the making and a powerful coming-of-age story that maps the insane geography of our times A gut-wrenching, beautiful memoir which explores toxic masculinity and the devastating consequences of war on one impressionable young soldier Matt Young joined the Marine Corps aged eighteen, after a drunken night that culminated in him crashing his car into a fire hydrant. The teenage wasteland he fled followed him to the training bases of California. Young survived training and then three deployments to Iraq as an infantryman. Eat the Apple is the searing and honest response to those years. Visceral, ironic, self-lacerating and ultimately redemptive, Young's story drops us unarmed into Marine Corps culture and lays bare the vulnerability of those on the front lines and the true, if often misguided, motivations that drove a young man to a life at war. Tender and brilliantly written, Eat the Apple is a powerful coming-of-age story that explores toxic masculinity and maps the insane geography of our times. Matt Young Joined The Marine Corps At Age Eighteen. The Teenage Wasteland He Fled Followed Him To The Training Bases Charged With Making Him A Marine. Matt Survived The Training And Then Not One, Not Two, But Three Deployments To Iraq. Visceral, Ironic, Self-lacerating, And Ultimately Redemptive, Young's Story Drops Us Unarmed Into Marine Corps Culture And Lays Bare The Absurdism Of 21st-century War, The Manned-up Vulnerability Of Those On The Front Lines, And The True, If Often Misguided, Motivations That Drove A Young Man To A Life At War. Matt Young.