Rating: 
Summary: Poor Excuse For a Marine
Review: I agree with another reviwer there should be negative number for this book. Being a former Marine I find this book to be a disgrace to our Corps. I agree with several other reviews that indicated inaccurate information in the book and also the fact that he never treats the word Marine as a proper noun shows that he has no respect. This is a waste of money and I wish that I would of read the reviews before the book they were much better then the book. I will never waste money on another piece of garbage that swafford writes again. Please don't buy this book and disrespect all of the great men and women who go to work in harms way for us everyday.
Rating:
Summary: Jarhead --- A Waste of Time and Money
Review: This is the most deplorable and insulting book I've read in years. Swofford takes blatant negativism about the Corps and piles it higher and deeper with each succeeding page. He tops off the negative with wild sea stories about him and his fellow Marines. He would lead people to believe Marine encampments were nothing but mini versions of Sodom and Gomorrah's and others' questionable actions that stretch one's credulity. His sniveling and dissembling throughout the book is tedious.Even the title of his book, Jarhead, is an insult unless the Corps I served in for seven years has changed dramatically since my time. Marines do not fancy being called Jarheads as Swofford claims. So far as I know, it was always a derogatory term used by other branches of the service much as Marines calling sailors Swabbies or soldiers, Doggies. This book is a waste of money not only in my opinion, but that of several former Marines with whom I have discussed the matter.
Rating: 
Summary: jarhead: a marines chronicle of the gulf war
Review: This is a really well written book it's as if the author were talking to you directly. It has quite a bit of military humor in as as well as civialian. Anthony Swafford should get a big Kudos for this book, he was a Marine himself.. Oh Anthony good for you for keeping your desert cammies, you deserve them even if they are ill fitting at this time. Vernon Boardman, Portsmouth, NH
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time or Money !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: If I could have rated this book in the negative "stars" I would have......... I picked up this book expecting an account of a marine serving in our military.....this book is more about his encounters with foreign whores and his bitterness against all mankind. Please Anthony, sell your pornographic views of the the opposite sex to those who really want to experience it, not those intending a decent novel. If I could return this book I would, instead I intend on burning it in my compost pile. Reading any part of this book makes one feel like they have lost some intelligence.
Rating: 
Summary: Fairly interesting
Review: With the media clampdown during the first Iraq war it was difficult to find reading on the subject that told it like it was. If what is told in this book is true, then it gives some detailed pictures of the actuality behind the sanitized news; but you have to get to the last part of the book to find it. War is not pretty -- especially the descriptions of U.S. bombing victims. I guess we should be a little less naive, but it was disheartening to learn about how many of the troops talk about and treat the letters and packages that are sent to "Any Soldier". Many good people put their heart and much time into trying to boost the morale of our troops through this program, and to have what they have done ridiculed by the recipients doesn't give one the incentive to participate. (On the other hand, I'm sure there are many heartwarming stories that have resulted from it, so we can't discount the whole thing.)
If this book is true, then it is a glimpse into the thoughts and actions of someone in the forefront of the action. The sounds, smells, and sights of what was there leave little to the imagination. Depictions of enemy rounds coming in, friendly fire incidences, the discovery of enemy bunkers (along with their human contents), and the irritation of slogging along in a chemical weapon protection suit are worth reading about. The book does ramble a bit, and a lot of it is flashbacks and incidences from other times in the author's life while in the military. On the whole, it is worth reading simply because it shines daylight on a part of history which didn't seem to be publicly documented too well. Be prepared for extremely crude and foul language.
Rating: 
Summary: James Jones he ain't...
Review: And yeah, I know, Jones was a doggie. I was a SLOW231 from '92 to '97 (all the intel pogues will know what I'm talking about). I don't remember the Suck being as crazy as Swofford describes it. Listen, you've got your 10%ers everywhere you go. When I was in, I complained about the Big Green Mother all the time too. I don't think he is anti-Corps, he's just telling a sea story. I'd say that 'Jarhead' is about 60% truth and 40% literary license. The best account ever written about Marine infantry was Charles Anderson's 'The Grunts' (but remember I was not a grunt). In my opinion, Charles Anderson and James Webb are the best Marine authors to ever take pen in hand. Swofford's book is worth the read but wait for the paperback man, and wait for somebody to loan it to you.
Rating: 
Summary: A personal truth
Review: I believe the mark of a good piece of non-fiction, especially when dealing with a memoir, is that of personal truth. I believe that Mr. Swofford did more than simply allude that his experiences as a Marine were HIS truth. However objectionable or inaccurate others who have experienced Marine life or any militiary service may find it, they cannot condemn him for relating his experience. I read an interview in which Mr. Swofford basically said that his experience in the Marine Corps and in the 1st Gulf War was a backdrop for a sort of personal odyssey. Someone mentioned in one review that his writing style was choppy, almost schizophrenic. Mr. Swofford was merely conveying in printed word what he experienced in thoughts and memories. Ask anyone to tell you their life story, and it is very rarely perfectly chronological or even coherent to others. Those who were offended by Mr. Swofford's words, thoughts, and perceptions of the Corps or the War, should rest easy. I believe this book was not written to add fuel to the fire of the politics of the second Gulf War. (It is so frightening that so much that even questions war these days is spurned by epithets and questions of patriotism.) To me, this book was one of humanity; the search for true meaning of it when everything around seems to nullify it. I applaud Mr. Swofford for his contributions to the literary world, even in the face of severe criticism-which I have no doubt that he anticipated prior to the book's release. I look forward to reading his forthcoming novel.
Rating:
Summary: Mis-directed self-loathing and misery
Review: It's obvious from the tales he tells that Swofford never liked himself, and was a misfit since he was child. In and of themselves, those are not sins. However, Swofford mistake is that he generalizes his slanted worldview to everyone around, assuming his misery is theirs. He was miserable as a Marine, therefore all Marines must be miserable. He tries to back this up with stories of his friends misery. Unfortunately, a miserable Marine is unlikely to gain the friendship of a solid Marine, and thus his view of all Marines as miserable is further skewed. In Swofford's view, those possessed of patriotism, or who find the Corps a worthwhile experience (or, heaven forbid, even love it) are pyschotic, unstable, and ignorant, and thus vent their pyschoses on the miserable Marines who see the truth. However, a miserable Marine is in all likelihood a sloppy Marine, and worthy of the wrath of his commanders. He then directs his anger and frustration not his own inability, but at the Corps. Swofford's tale is bereft of a moral compass. He disavows religion, he condemns his country, insults the command structure, and loathes his fellow Marines, then wonders why he is outsider. Even the most anti-war memoir from a soldier turned peace activist at least expresses some admiration and commitment to those he fought with. Instead, Swofford seems bent casting almost every man he served with as insane, stupid, blind, brutal or paranoid, and only occasionally in touch with reality. Ultimately, Swofford stands for nothing. He has a great idea about what he's against, but nothing to stand for. In doing so, he dishonors the 228 year legacy of Marines who have fought and died something greater than the "sad cause" he derides all wars as. As a side note, his prose reads like he was trying to hard to impress some granola girl in a writer's workshop.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Don't waste your time or money says it all. I wish not I had begun to read this in the bookstore before buying it. This could be the worst book I have ever read. It is poor and I am not sure how much is believable. I got through the first three chapters and that was painful and then I decided to try and read all of it. Such a waste of my time and my money. Do yourself a favor and but a different book.
Rating:
Summary: Faithful
Review: This is not the story of a typical grunt, nor is it the story of Desert Storm, as told by one. Swofford points out at the beginning that the book is what he knows himself. It matters little, if at all, whether his chronicle of being a marine is typical, ideal, "balanced," or even a corroborated recollection. What matters is that it is forthright and unapologetic. It would have been pointless if Swofford had fleshed out his story by recounting more times of good discipline and high morale, or made it seem he were less deserving of brig time. It would also have been a mistake if a random jarhead had attempted to tell the "true" story of Desert Storm. Not for nothing, but "Other Battles" is a significant part of the subtitle. This book is not for everyone. It is not for those who want to read what it is like to be a 'jarhead,' or what happened in Desert Storm. It is certainly not for the mildly curious who read memoirs and biographies to fill their idle hours, or the miserable who merely want company. This book is for readers who want a powerful, honest account of choosing a path and becoming something, but most of all, to know what it means to examine ones life. This book is real and alive. It can consume you and make you real and alive as well.
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