Pumpkinflowers
A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War
"A book about young men transformed by war, written by a veteran whose dazzling literary gifts gripped my attention from the first page to the last." --The Wall Street Journal
"Friedman's sober and striking new memoir . . . is] on a par with Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried -- its Israeli analog." --The New York Times Book Review
It was just one small hilltop in a small, unnamed war in the late 1990s, but it would send out ripples that are still felt worldwide today. The hill, in Lebanon, was called the Pumpkin; flowers was the military code word for "casualties." Award-winning writer Matti Friedman re-creates the harrowing experience of a band of young Israeli soldiers charged with holding this remote outpost, a task that would change them forever, wound the country in ways large and small, and foreshadow the unwinnable conflicts the United States would soon confront in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Pumpkinflowers is a reckoning by one of those young soldiers now grown into a remarkable writer. Part memoir, part reportage, part history, Friedman's powerful narrative captures the birth of today's chaotic Middle East and the rise of a twenty-first-century type of war in which there is never a clear victor and media images can be as important as the battle itself.
Raw and beautifully rendered, Pumpkinflowers will take its place among classic war narratives by George Orwell, Philip Caputo, and Tim O'Brien. It is an unflinching look at the way we conduct war today.
9781616206918
Book, Paperback
Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War
- Author: Matti Friedman
Algonquin Books, 2017
272
English
8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches, 1 pounds
| Acceptable: | Fairly worn but fully readable and intact. Pages may include notes, highlighting, or minor water damage. Dust jacket, CDs, product codes, or other inclusions may be missing or expired. |
| Good: | Shows signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes or highlighting. Dust jacket, CDs, product codes, or other inclusions may be missing or expired. |
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| New: | Brand new, unused, and in perfect condition. Includes all original packaging and accessories. |