01
Why it matters
Klay replaces one war narrative with conflicting experiences of violence and reintegration.
2014 selection · Literary fiction
Redeployment
National Book Award for Fiction · Winner NPR Books We Love · Recommendation The New York Times — 10 Best Books · Recommendation
Twelve stories follow American service members through combat in Iraq and difficult returns home. Marines, chaplains, specialists, and civilians reveal different vocabularies for guilt and duty.
02
Read this if…
You want varied, unsentimental stories about modern military service.
03
Ideas inside
Iraq Warveteransmoralityreintegration
Get or borrow
Continue with this book.
Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission when you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. Editorial selections are independent.
Further reading
Read the critics
Independent reviews and criticism from established publications. Links open at the original outlet.
Primary record
Verify the selection
Every inclusion traces back to the organization that made the selection.
National Book Award for Fiction — official winner recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)NPR Books We Love — official recommendation recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)The New York Times — 10 Best Books — official recommendation recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)NPR Books We Love — official recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)Continue reading
From the same conversation
The Underground Railroad
- National Book Award for Fiction
- The New York Times — 10 Best Books
- +1
Cora escapes a Georgia plantation through a literal underground railway and crosses states embodying different racial terrors. A slave catcher follows as each refuge proves conditional.
Sing, Unburied, Sing
- National Book Award for Fiction
- The New York Times — 10 Best Books
- +1
Thirteen-year-old Jojo travels through Mississippi with his mother to collect his father from prison. Living and dead voices accompany a journey shaped by addiction and racism.
James
- National Book Award for Fiction
- NPR Books We Love
- +1
Everett retells Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through Jim’s eyes, revealing a literate man forced to perform a demeaning persona. The river becomes a route toward family and freedom.