Book Report on Jarhead, by Anthony Swafford

The novel “Jarhead,” by Anthony Swafford is a first hand account of the Gulf War in early 1990. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very honest account of his experience, and while he wasn’t actually in any combat situations, it was fascinating to see what life was like overseas.

Swafford also often incorporates stories and information from his home life, which shows the reader how he got to where he is today. I got the impression that he didn’t have an amazing home life (his brother was incarcerated) and also, he felt somewhat pressured to uphold the family tradition of serving in the military.

Most readers will be unfamiliar with the conditions in Saudi Arabia, so the author provides a lot of description for the desert, barracks, weaponry, and more. I had no prior knowledge of the military before reading this, and I understood mostly everything. A lot of the book is informative about the topic,