Redeployment

National Book Award Winner

By: Phil Klay

Narrated by: Craig Klein

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

"Redeployment is hilarious, biting, whipsawing and sad. It’s the best thing written so far on what the war did to people’s souls.” —Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review

Selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post Book World, Amazon, and more

Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos.

In "Redeployment", a soldier who has had to shoot dogs because they were eating human corpses must learn what it is like to return to domestic life in suburbia, surrounded by people "who have no idea where Fallujah is, where three members of your platoon died." In "After Action Report", a Lance Corporal seeks expiation for a killing he didn't commit, in order that his best friend will be unburdened. A Morturary Affairs Marine tells about his experiences collecting remains—of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers both. A chaplain sees his understanding of Christianity, and his ability to provide solace through religion, tested by the actions of a ferocious Colonel. And in the darkly comic "Money as a Weapons System", a young Foreign Service Officer is given the absurd task of helping Iraqis improve their lives by teaching them to play baseball. These stories reveal the intricate combination of monotony, bureaucracy, comradeship and violence that make up a soldier's daily life at war, and the isolation, remorse, and despair that can accompany a soldier's homecoming.

Redeployment has become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: one of extremes and one of loss. Written with a hard-eyed realism and stunning emotional depth, this work marks Phil Klay as one of the most talented new voices of his generation.

Each Story Hits Hard at the Heart

Many times I'll buy a collection of short stories and read/listen to 3, one of which is good and the others afflicted by such eccentricities and affectations that I cannot get past the thought (which seems confirmed by research on the writer) that these are foibles foisted on the writer by one MFA program or another, or by trying too hard to come up with a ingenious story.

While I believe Mr. Klay has an MFA in creative writing, his writing is true and powerful because, it seems to me, he writes what he knows and what he knows has struck him in a way that he cannot help but write stories from the heart that are genuine and profound.

I highly recommend these stories, each of which moved me.

A look behind the scenes of war

An engaging if disturbing look behind the scenes of the lives of modern warriors. The multiple perspectives combine to create an incredible picture.

War on the Inside

As an audio experience it was a little confusing because I never know when one story ended and another began. all in all a fascinating look at the impact of war before during and after.

Fantastic writer and writing mentor

I’m a writer, and I have two books written. Phil Klay is currently helping me to edit my first book, and his advice is phenomenal! This is my first time I’m listening to his audiobook. For a collection of short stories, I didn’t want his writing to end.

Enlightening

Where does Redeployment rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Unique in it's genre

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like the variety of characters in the different stories

What does Craig Klein bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Deep knowledge, respect for all backgrounds, entertainment and leaves you thinking about our policies and the sacrifices of a few for all of the rest.

Any additional comments?

Excellent