It's time for my very first book review! The first book I'm reviewing is Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Path Tillman. Why did I choose this book? The author! I absolutely love Jon Krakauer. I've read three of his books; Into Thin Air, Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven. They were all fantastic and I highly recommend them all. My friend Lee also recommended I read it, knowing my love of the author.
I went into this having huge expectations of this book. I had just read Into Thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven and was having a love affair with Jon. While I have to admit I liked the two previous books a little better this was always amazing and well worth a read.
The subject matter was extremely deep and a little controversial, (which is why I shouldn't have chosen it for my first review) and took me a little longer to read then I expected. For those of you unfamiliar with the Pat Tillman story, let me give you a run down. Pat Tillman was a player in the NFL who after 9/11 left behind a multi-million dollar contract to join the army because he felt a sense of duty. Without ruining anything if you are going to read the book (it is known from the very beginning), Pat gets killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. For the time being, I'm going to stay off of my soapbox and not not talk about what happens after this. If you decide not to read the book, please look into and form your own opinions.
As far as the book goes, it was an absolutely fascinating read. Jon Krakauer is an absolutely amazing writer. He weaves the story of Pat in with the story of the war in Afghanistan in a seamless way that is nothing short of genius. He pulls from Tillman's own diaries, stories from his family and extensive interviews with people who knew him including his brother he deployed with him.
I highly recommend this book; it is extremely inspiring and just fascinating. If you decide not to read it, I would BEG you to please read something about Pat Tillman. He is an modern day hero no matter how you look at it and everyone should know a little about his story.
The next book I'll be reviewing is Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher. I have high hopes for this book since it was recommended to me by a friend who is an high school English teacher. It's a very short young adult book so I'm sure I'll be finished soon!
Happy Reading!
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