Reviews
"Harrowingly detailed . . . Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the 'war on terror.'" -The New York Times10 Best Books of 2008 "The gaping wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan have produced a torrent of words, but no single volume so far has the precision and power ofThe Forever War. . . Filkins' set pieces have the absolute clarity of lightning flashes that burn away the fog of war." -TimeBest Nonfiction Books of 2008 "Not since Michael Herr inDispatches. . . has a reporter written as vividly about combat as Filkins does from Afghanistan and Iraq." -USA Today10 Best Books of 2008 "Filkins's meticulously constructed vignettes . . . illuminate and humanize the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan." -Los Angeles TimesFavorite Books 2008 "The Forever War. . . achieves a gripping, raw immediacy." -The Boston Globe's Year's Best Books "Splendid." -Washington Post Book WorldBest Nonfiction of 2008 "Dexter Filkins'sThe Forever Waris the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty." -Dave Eggers,GuardianBest Books of the Year "The Forever Waris already a classicit has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours." -George Packer, author ofThe Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq "Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest.The Forever Waris his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever." -Jeffrey Goldberg, author ofPrisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide "Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense." -Lawrence Wright, author ofThe Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 "Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history." -Robert Stone, on the front page ofThe New York Times Book Review "Dexter Filkins'sThe Forever War, brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic." -Vanity Fair "Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam inDispatcheswas a sort of Jackson Pollockstreaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugsThe Forever Waris like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds." -John Leonard,Harper's "The definitive&, "Harrowingly detailed . . . Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the 'war on terror.'" -The New York Times10 Best Books of 2008 "Filkins's meticulously constructed vignettes . . . illuminate and humanize the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan." -Los Angeles TimesFavorite Books 2008 "The Forever War . . . achieves a gripping, raw immediacy." -The Boston Globe's Year's Best Books "Dexter Filkins'sThe Forever Waris the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty." -Dave Eggers,GuardianBest Books of the Year "The Forever Waris already a classicit has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours." -George Packer, author ofThe Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq "Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest.The Forever Waris his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever." -Jeffrey Goldberg, author ofPrisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide "Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense." -Lawrence Wright, author ofThe Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 "Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history." -Robert Stone, on the front page ofThe New York Times Book Review "Dexter Filkins'sThe Forever War, brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic." -Vanity Fair "Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam inDispatcheswas a sort of Jackson Pollockstreaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugsThe Forever Waris like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds." -John Leonard,Harper's "The definitiveand heartbreakingly humanizingreport from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan . . .The Forever War[is] about all wars, everywhereand a book that will be read fifty years from now." -Andrew Corsello,GQ "Dexter Filkins is one of war writings' modern marvels, a writer of tremendous gifts and appropriate grit to go where others will not." -Henry C. Jackson,Associated Press "The best war reportage you are apt to read in a lifetime." -Joseph C. Goulden,The Washington Times "Unflinching, "Stunning. . . . This unforgettable narrative represents . . . a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history." -Robert Stone,The New York TimesBook Review "Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the "war on terror." -The New York Times "Unflinching. . . . Filkins confronts the absurdity of war head-on. . . . This is a page-turner, and one of the most astounding books yet written about the war in Iraq." -Time "Thanks to one reporter's heroic act of witness and brilliant recitation of what he saw, we can see the war¬ as it is, and for ourselves." -Los Angeles Times "Not since Michael Herr inDispatches. . . has a reporter written as vividly about combat as Filkins does from Afghanistan and Iraq." -USA Today10 Best Books of 2008 "The Forever War. . . achieves a gripping, raw immediacy." -The Boston Globe's Year's Best Books "Splendid." -Washington Post Book WorldBest Nonfiction of 2008 "Dexter Filkins'sThe Forever Waris the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty." -Dave Eggers,GuardianBest Books of the Year "The Forever Waris already a classicit has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours." -George Packer, author ofThe Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq "Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest.The Forever Waris his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever." -Jeffrey Goldberg, author ofPrisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide "Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense." -Lawrence Wright, author ofThe Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 "Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history." -Robert Stone, on the front page ofThe New York Times Book Review "Dexter Filkins'sThe Forever War, brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic." -Vanity Fair "Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam inDispatcheswas a sort of Jackson Pollockstreaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugsThe Forever Waris like a pointillist Seurat, a ne
