The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq

by John Crawford

Overview

In the tradition of Michael Herr's Dispatches, a National Guardsman's account of the war in Iraq.

John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition, willingly exchanging one weekend a month and two weeks a year for a free education. But in Autumn 2002, one semester short of graduating and newly married—in fact, on his honeymoon—he was called to active duty and sent to the front lines in Iraq.

Crawford and his unit spent months upon months patrolling the streets of Baghdad, occupying a hostile city. During the breaks between patrols, Crawford began recording what he and his fellow soldiers witnessed and experienced. Those stories became The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell—a haunting and powerful, compellingly honest book that imparts the on-the-ground reality of waging the war in Iraq, and marks as the introduction of a mighty literary voice forged in the most intense of circumstances.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594482014
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/04/2006
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	484,670
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.93(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	940L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Crawford was newly married and two credits away from completing a B.A. in anthropology at Florida State University when he was sent to Iraq. He thought he was finished with his soldiering days after completing a stint with the Army’s famed 101st Airborne Division, and his National Guard service was little more than an afterthought. Crawford and his National Guard unit crossed into Iraq on the first day of the invasion. Baghdad fell more quickly than anyone had planned, and while most of the soldiers involved with the invasion were sent home, Crawford’s National Guard unit stayed to patrol the city for more than a year. Crawford now lives in Florida, where he is completing his degree and writing. He no longer has any affiliation with the Army.

What People are Saying About This

James Crumley

The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell is a savage, gritty, and compelling work that reveals the true cost of the Iraqi Adventure, the price paid by young soldiers. It's not about heroism, but about heroic endurance against the desert, the war-torn neighborhoods, and the lies of their commanders, lies that will echo the rest of their lives. It's a major account of the Iraqi War, without pretense, without an axe to grind, and without complaint. A story about the heart of all wars - not politics, not principles, not money - your buddies. I was touched and overwhelmed.
—(James Crumley, author of One to Count Cadence, The Last Good Kiss and The Right Madness)

James Frey

This may well be the last true story John Crawford ever tells, but it's enough. He has written a vital book. Vital because we need to read it, vital because it reveals some truths about the war in Iraq that we have not seen, the human truths of young men waging war, vital because it's honest, raw and alive. It's a heartbreaking and perversely beautiful book that should join Catch-22 and The Things They Carried as this generation's defining literary expression of men at war.
—(James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard)

Gabe Hudson

This book blew me away. Powerful, haunting, hilarious, searingly honest, and shot through with all sorts of sorrow and rage and grief. It reminded me a little of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, but the truth is you've never read anything quite like this before. Mr. Crawford does a beautiful job of conveying the modern infantryman's torn heart, and our nation's war literature is richer by one outstanding book. Thank you, Mr.Crawford.
—(Gabe Hudson, author of Dear Mr. President)

From the Publisher

“Potent…Crawford tells tales that bring human dimensions to his situation.” —The New York Times

“A National Guardsman who never expected to see battle writes a shattering account of the war that changed his life.” —People

"Tremendous...An incredibly gripping book, and incredibly well-written. It's a remarkable story...I commend [Crawford] not only for his service, but for the account of it, which is really a wonderful read."—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"Harrowing and exquisite."—Time

"Takes its place among the very best tales of men at war—it rings with the raw emotional energies of truth and anger and sadness."—The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“It's f***ing dynamite… Like Michael Herr in Dispatches, Crawford really has it down. He’s got it nailed.” —Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest

“Crawford is a wonderfully descriptive writer—and reading this book feels like climbing into a Humvee to patrol Baghdad in 130-degree heat.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

David Amsden

Crawford's writing pulses with urgency, and, gloriously, his story of being an American soldier in Iraq is shattering and relentless. Most chillingly for us readers in our early twenties, Crawford's story universalizes the accidental way in which this war has affected us all.
—(David Amsden, author of Important Things That Don't Matter)

Thom Jones

I picked up Crawford's book and with the first paragraph I was hooked. I put it down at the half way point so I would have the pleasure of reading the rest later. It's f***ing dynamite. A young man pushed beyond endurance. Is a good book worth what he saw, felt, experienced? There are some bad things people know and wish they didn't. And I can just see it all: Something very dark in the human heart and it cannot be vanquished. War after war. I finished the book thinking this is like Vietnam all over again. And like Michael Herr in Dispatches, Crawford really has it down. He's got it nailed.
—(Thom Jones, author of Pugilist at Rest)

Editorial Reviews

Potent…Crawford tells tales that bring human dimensions to his situation.” —The New York Times

“A National Guardsman who never expected to see battle writes a shattering account of the war that changed his life.” —People

"Tremendous...An incredibly gripping book, and incredibly well-written. It's a remarkable story...I commend [Crawford] not only for his service, but for the account of it, which is really a wonderful read."—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"Harrowing and exquisite."—Time

"Takes its place among the very best tales of men at war—it rings with the raw emotional energies of truth and anger and sadness."—The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“It's f***ing dynamite… Like Michael Herr in Dispatches, Crawford really has it down. He’s got it nailed.” —Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest

“Crawford is a wonderfully descriptive writer—and reading this book feels like climbing into a Humvee to patrol Baghdad in 130-degree heat.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

From the Publisher

Report from the front: newly married and just short of graduating, a young man who joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college education finds himself in Iraq, where an embedded journalist encourages him to disseminate the stories he's writing about his experience. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Crawford, formerly a soldier in the Florida Army National Guard, was a student in college when he got word, on his honeymoon, that his unit had been called up. He ended up taking part in the invasion of Iraq and stayed in the country for some time after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Crawford is candid about what he saw and experienced: the good, the horrible, the ridiculous, the honorable, and the despicable. This reminiscence is competently read by Patrick Lawlor. His voice has a youthful quality that fits well with the author's age. He has great energy and is able to capture the moods of any situation. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 06 - AudioFile