A generic addition to the crowded shelf of post-9/11 special-ops memoirs.
Gung-ho account of a sniper's time in Afghanistan, focused on "the thrill, the rush, the smell of gunpowder in combat."
Raised in a military family, Irving felt destined for service at a high level, becoming an Army Ranger at age 22. His perspective is unabashedly adolescent, portraying combat like a giant video game and entranced by the rituals and comradeship of men under arms. As with other recent books, Irving—writing with Brozek (co-author: The Hurt Artist: My Journey From Suicidal Junkie to Ironman, 2014, etc.)—is adept at discussing the uncompromising minutiae of weapons, tactics and battle staging, the lifeblood of the elite sniper fraternity. He portrays several action-packed missions during a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan, pursuing suicide-vest makers and other high-value Taliban targets in both rural and urban environments. During one grueling daylong firefight, Irving killed so many Taliban that his awed comrades bestowed upon him the titular nickname. Irving would ultimately claim 33 confirmed kills, evoking jealousy in his fellow snipers, described as having been "itching for some trigger time.” Given that the snipers are essentially tasked with shooting any armed military-age males they encounter, this pervasive machismo gives the narrative an unsavory (albeit unsurprising) subtext, especially since Irving rarely considers the larger political narrative of counterterrorism and the Afghanistan War. Despite his enthusiasm, by the end of the deployment, "all I could think of was that I wanted to get the hell out of that country and go home.” Though flattered by his formidable reputation as “this ‘little guy’ who was on a crazy roll racking up kills,” the hostility of Afghan civilians and the injuries suffered by his friends led him "to question why we were putting in so much blood, sweat, and tears in a place where people didn't seem to want our help."
A generic addition to the crowded shelf of post-9/11 special-ops memoirs.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-1250045447
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
A breezy, anecdotal insider's memoir of network television, from a top producer (``The Mary Tyler Moore Show'') who also chaired NBC for five years in the early 1980s. Aided by former NBC executive Rukeyser, Tinker spins stories from 40 years in a colloquial, irreverent voice; he admits most of his important decisions were made haphazardly. In 1949, after failing to find a job in publishing, he joined NBC Radio, developing quiz shows, then crossing over to the network's fledgling TV section. After leaving for a stint in advertising, he returned to NBC's California division in time to further his relationship with Mary Tyler Moore of ``The Dick Van Dyke Show,'' who became his second wife. Eventually, Tinker decided to form a production company—MTM—when his wife was offered her own show. Tinker affectionately recalls the talents and trials involved in building unorthodox shows like ``Hill Street Blues,'' where network anxieties had to be assuaged, and ``Lou Grant,'' which lost sponsors in response to star Ed Asner's vocal leftist politics. Tinker's years at NBC were rewarding, but he laments the network's takeover by General Electric, with ``it's just another business'' approach. Tinker imparts some lessons learned along the way. Programmers should follow their instincts and recognize that new series, especially innovative ones, need time to find an audience. Flagship news programs represent the network at its best, so the current belt-tightening bodes ill for quality. Tinker takes pride in having booted shock-jock Howard Stern from NBC radio. But the high standards and public service approach he calls for will rely more on networks' noblesse oblige than on policy proposals. He also predicts, contrary to the view of many media observers, that some networks will continue to thrive in the expanding universe of cable. A late-summer beach read for TV folk and curious couch potatoes. (8 pages b&w photos—not seen)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-75940-X
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1994
In this memoir Torgovnick (English/Duke Univ.) proves herself to be a rare breed: a cultural critic who writes lucidly and perceptively not only about her chosen texts, but about herself. The first half of the book consists of autobiographical essays on crossing boundaries of class, religion, education, and place, as an Italian-American woman. Torgovnick grew up in Bensonhurst, a working-class, predominantly Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. Ocean Parkway, which divides Bensonhurst from Sheepshead Bay (the middle-class, Jewish neighborhood into which she eventually married), symbolized upward mobility and the possibilities of life beyond the confines of her insular world. These essays describe her experiences as an academically successful girl in a community where intellectual expectations for girls were low; later, as a professor in a Waspy college town, she also felt herself an outsider. The book's latter half consists of essays of cultural criticism, on Italian-American icons such as The Godfather, as well as other American literary institutions—Dr. Dolittle, critic Lionel Trilling, and the canon. Torgovnick writes her critical pieces in the same intimate, personal voice she uses in the memoirs. Throughout, she is willing to revise and add complexity to her own narratives. In an epilogue on her father's death, for instance, she reflects that, although she felt that she was rebelling against him in ``crossing Ocean Parkway''—marrying Jewish, going to college, and moving out of the neighborhood—he may have been more of an ally than she had thought. He protested when she skipped grades in school, yet he also gave her books, took her into the city, and was a model of gender rebellion—pulling down the shades so the neighbors couldn't see him doing housework. Torgovnick's scholarly background and life experience inform her readings of both American culture and her own past; she has found an essayist's voice that is very much her own.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-226-80829-7
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Univ. of Chicago
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1994
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
