Fobbit

Reviews / Votes

In this wickedly funny novel, Abrams sees right past the self-aggrandizing illusions and comforting fairytales that tuck the US in at night. -- Derrik Miller * Guardian * As funny, disturbing, heartbreaking and ridiculous as war itself * New York Times Book Review * Brilliant and excruciating -- Patrick Hennessey * The Times * Abrams has a definite comic talent and a lively turn of phrase -- Sam Leith * Guardian * [Hilarious]... It is the rare writer - indeed, the rare person - who can step outside of himself and see with cold clarity the humor and pathos of his situation and then bring the reader to the same understanding. David Abrams is such a writer * Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn * Fobbit blends fiction and journalism, an apt reflection of literary influences combined with [Abrams's] experience in an Army public affairs team... Though absurd, these Dickensian characters are all so skillfully wrought that we quickly accept their idiosyncrasies... What's most intriguing about this work is that, at its center, it is both a clever study in anxiety and an unsettling expose of how the military tells its truths * The Washington Post * There's a lot of fun and wit here and the portrait it offers of a certain kind of American soldier, and a certain kind of war, is both valuable and accurate -- Thomas Quinn * Big Issue * [Abrams has] a genuine sense of humor...and a productive sense of irony to go with it. Fobbit is an impressive debut and holds out promise for more good things to come * Los Angeles Times * Fobbit is fast, razor sharp, and seven kinds of hilarious. It deserves a place alongside Slaughterhouse Five and Catch-22 as one of our great comic novels about the absurdity of war * Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here * When it comes to war literature, a comic novel will always do a better job with the big picture * San Francisco Chronicle *