Rating: 
Summary: I read this book years ago . . .
Review: . . . when it was called the 'The Short Timers' and was written by Gustav Hasford. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe the book isn't a pure copy of Hasford's novel of a grunt in Vietnam, but it's so similar in tone that you get the sense that Swofford may have read Hasford's book a few too many times before writing his own memoir. In fact, other than a little splash of the literary all-my-problems-are-the-result-of-a-family-trauma motif, you can find virtually everything in 'Jarhead' in other, earlier, war memoirs of Vietnam-era writers (and, frankly, I'm not sure that Swofford didn't swipe the traumatic military childhood angle from 'The Great Santini'). Ultimately 'Jarhead' reads like the intense, exaggerated and pretentious musings of the very drunk guy sitting on the next stool at a bar outside a military base. Can we believe his tale? I dunno. I'd argue that it reads too much like a novel to be taken at face value, and he's lucky Bush decided to confront Saddam when he did. Otherwise the publication of this slightly lame memoir would never have received the massive free publicity it received in the media during the runup to the invasion.
Rating: 
Summary: Must a story be true to be good?
Review: After reading "Jarhead", I browsed the reviews on this site. They were predictable. The vast majority of negative response was understandably primal and defensive. Not in my Corps! Swofford was a (bottom) 10%er. Swofford is an admitted pants-pisser, and that's all you need to know. These responses continue to make Swofford's point. Serving in the Marine Corps -- or any other branch -- requires that you accept as truth some things which simply aren't. In contrast, many readers seemed willing to accept Swofford's story in its entirety. His frankness is disarming and leads one to believe he is being fully truthful. He is not. Both responses represent incomplete analyses, though I am more forgiving of the latter. Like Swofford, I served in Gulf War I, and was on the periphery of engagement. Like his detractors, I saw exaggeration and fabrication in his tale. But I do not begrudge Swofford his memories or his claims. Were his details all true? Certainly not. I flatly disbelieve anyone who claims his own version as THE TRUTH. Swofford gives voice to many things I have thought but have never spoken aloud. His story rings true to me, in part *because* of its flaws. His is a story told by a real person, not by some sanitized and idealized version of what we think a Marine ought to be. Several reviews liken Swofford to Tim O'Brien. To the extent that he writes about humanity in general against a backdrop of military madness, I agree (if not madness, at least across an oxymoronic minefield). But I see something more interesting still. My favorite O'Brien book is "Tomcat in Love," which is ostensibly his least Vietnam-related work. It succeeds because of its fiendishly unreliable narrator. I do not claim that Swofford deliberately uses this literary device. I certainly cannot rule it out. I do know that he crafts a compelling read, whether you find him reliable or not. And I appreciate this book because it speaks truths between the lines even while using falsehoods directly upon them. It does not surprise when a few jarheads miss this point altogether. The force of their "rebuttals" signals just how accurately he hits his target. A dime group at a grand? Hardly. But sufficient to do its job, which is provoking the sensitivities of the reader. Well done.
Rating:
Summary: Touch of truth
Review: This is one of my first military reads and it totally captured me. Being in the military myself, I can identify with the sarcasm and dark humor that Swofford has woven in this book. I think it is a great read for anyone, regardless of age or occupation. Swofford uses enough military jargon to make "us" smile and enough explanation for civilians to capture a glimpse of what it really means to be a marine on the front line. His love-hate relationship with the corps, the struggles of military vs. civilian life and the reality of war; this book has it all. As bold and as rude as the language gets, it is equally humane and touching!!
Semper Fi Swofford.
Rating:
Summary: Poor story, by a poor Marine
Review: After the first couple of pages I was ready to throw the book away. If you are looking for a story that regales the Marines this is not it. I was going to send it to a friend of mine who is a true Marine serving with a Scout Sniper Platoon; he had already read the book along with several other Marines in his unit, every one of them disliked it. It is unfortunate that the author did not have a more positive experience, maybe its because he hasn't had a positive experience with life yet. You get out of the Corps what you put into it. Obviously he didn't put much into it, it shows in his book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read if...
Review: Marines generally have a love/hate relationship with our Corps. I've been in for now 1 year and I can truly understand that - as Swofford tends to show. I say that and I plan to be a lifer. This book, tells the events preceding up to and throughout the 1st Gulf War through the eyes of Lance Corporal Anythony Swofford. Swofford is fairly cynical, was abused in boot camp (fairly common then, but fairly uncommon now), and has a troubled life. He IS somewhat whiny, but what he has to say is mostly good. In short, it's a good read, but only if you get past the whining enough to actually hear what he has to say.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, if Flawed
Review: Right at the beginning of Jarhead, Anthony Swofford warns us that what follows is not true, not false, but just what he remembers. I think those words of warning are important for anyone reading this powerful, flawed memoir. From reading other reviews, it seems many are upset by his version of being a marine, but I think it is important to remember that this is as he remembers his experience. What he did experience--the Gulf War, a difficult childhood, death of close friends--is enough to warp the mind. What Swofford has given us here is a powerful memoir, a look into a world that many of us do not have a chance to see. He lets us into his head and helps non-jarheads to understand, at least to certain extent, what his experience was. Swofford is honest with us--he and his friends are far from perfect and he doesn't try to sugar coat anything. The writing at times can be a bit uneven--it's not all as powerful as it could be. That being said, this is an interesting look into the life of one jarhead.
Rating:
Summary: Shaky at first, but give it time
Review: The first time I tried reading this I gave up a few chapters in. This guy is really whiny. I decided to give it another shot a few months later. Okay, he still seems whiny in some parts, but it pays off. The chapters at the end, and his descriptions of the end of the conflict especially, whoa. Powerful stuff. Very stylish, too.
Rating: 
Summary: False Pretense
Review: This book is sold under the pretense of being the memoirs of a jarhead. I found it to be the memoirs of a person who is unhappy (who happened to be a jarhead). He was unhappy before he was a jarhead, he was unhappy while he was a jarhead, and he is unhappy after he was a jarhead. Furthermore, he had problems with his father, his mother, his sister, his brother and with God. Should it be a shocker that he problems with the Marine Corps? As the father of a Marine about to leave for Iraq, I would be blown away if my son had an outlook on life like that of the author. Only buy this book if you enjoy reading the misery that some people choose to live in.
Rating:
Summary: - a memoir written prematurely by an immature author
Review: I'm not a marine so you can't disregard my comments as being yet another "jarhead" trying to protect the corps.
I was offended by the lack of moral and ethical code (never mind the military code) this author confessed to breaking rather bluntly and seemingly without much remorse or benefit of enlightened hindsight that generally a memoir provides. By page two I was regretting the purchase when I read he had stolen military supplies and fellow marines' uniforms for resale profit (and drinking funds). Regardless of youth and immaturity, this author shocked me with his obvious lack of respect for the marine corp and his fellow marines - making me wonder why he even joined. I fully expected him to take his readers down a path of self-discovery and resulting maturity typical of the coming of age and memoir genres. Despite page two, I read the whole book hoping the author would somehow redeem himself by providing revealing, self-reflective passages that would allow us to perhaps forgive him for his long winded whining and supposedly "shocking" tabloid narrative that at times reached unsuccessfully for poetic images and force fed readers the old "mirage" metaphor over and over and over again. (Yes, you're in the desert and you're confused about your identity and your role there - we get it!)
Sadly, this was not the case. And the ending was ridiculously sudden and premature. A huge disappointment overall.
Rating:
Summary: Overdone but largely authentic
Review: I served in Desert Storm, in the USMC infantry similar to Swofford. This is the first book on the subject that I could stand to read. Parts of it I hate because Swofford stole from fellow Marines (that makes him a scumbag more than a sniper) and he exagerrates (which means lies) a bit on the tales of drunken debauchery.
But . . . when he tones down a notch and writes about actual operations - he accounts ring very true and compelling. Further, I found a lot of his psychological insights and reflections on becoming a Marine very compelling. I felt like this book helped me verbalize my own very complex feelings about the war, our country, and manhood in our age. Swofford does capture the essence of serving in the Marine Corps in those years.
I recommend this book for Gulf War veterans and as a psychological history of this period.
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