Civilianized

"Returning Iraq war veteran Michael Anthony hurls us into the raw, moral betrayals of war and the awful moral dislocation of coming home." —Nancy Sherman, author of Afterwar

After twelve months of military service in Iraq, Michael Anthony stepped off a plane, seemingly happy to be home—or at least back on US soil. He was twenty-one years old, a bit of a nerd, and carrying a pack of cigarettes that he thought would be his last. Two weeks later, Michael was stoned on Vicodin, drinking way too much, and picking a fight with a very large Hell's Angel. At his wit's end, he came to an agreement with himself: If things didn't improve in three months, he was going to kill himself. Civilianized is a memoir chronicling Michael's search for meaning in a suddenly destabilized world.

"Michael Anthony writes with emotional clarity, dark wit, and unpremeditated honesty . . . I won't soon forget this book." —Mary Roach, author of Grunt

"Michael Anthony's Civilianized howls with hard-earned wisdom. An unflinching story of homecoming and the after-war, Anthony has been to the brink and back. He writes with both soul and candor, and for that, contemporary war literature is in his debt." —Matt Gallagher, author of Kaboom

"This at-times darkly comic memoir serves as an important reminder of the human cost of America's involvement in overseas conflicts . . . An intense memoir." —Kirkus Reviews