NFL player Pat Tillman chucks fame and fortune aside to join the military in the wake of 9/11; when he dies in a firefight, the tragedy is compounded when it becomes known he was accidentally killed by friendly forces. Jon Krakauer's nonfiction accounting of his life and death, Where Men Win Glory, is important reading no matter where on the political spectrum you are.
I am a big fan of Krakauer's writing, and have learned in reading previous books like Into Thin Air and Into the Wild that he has an interest in protagonists with their own code of honor who will follow that code no matter where it leads.
Tillman is that type of protagonist, and as his life heads on the path to its conclusion the reading is sometimes agonizing. Equally painful is reading the chapters dealing with the history of the region and all of the mistakes, mishaps, and miscues going back decades that set Tillman on this collision course.
I think Krakauer is a very sharp, clear writer and his in-depth research--delineated in the back of the book--backs up the narrative.
I bought this from Amazon with a gift card and held onto it until I was basically mentally ready to read it. Solid writing and a powerful story makes this one recommended.
I am a big fan of Krakauer's writing, and have learned in reading previous books like Into Thin Air and Into the Wild that he has an interest in protagonists with their own code of honor who will follow that code no matter where it leads.
Tillman is that type of protagonist, and as his life heads on the path to its conclusion the reading is sometimes agonizing. Equally painful is reading the chapters dealing with the history of the region and all of the mistakes, mishaps, and miscues going back decades that set Tillman on this collision course.
I think Krakauer is a very sharp, clear writer and his in-depth research--delineated in the back of the book--backs up the narrative.
I bought this from Amazon with a gift card and held onto it until I was basically mentally ready to read it. Solid writing and a powerful story makes this one recommended.
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