Ben Fountain (the story collection Brief Encounters with Che Guevara) has written a truly wondrous debut novel in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. On the face of it, this is the story of Bravo Squad, eight brave survivors of a horrendous firefight with Iraqi insurgents who are being celebrated at Texas Stadium on Thanksgiving Day as the Dallas Cowboys take the field. That is only part of the tale, though. They are feted, trotted around like prize winners at a county fair, made part of the halftime show and projected on the Jumbotron--then dropped when their marginal utility has been served.
One subplot covers an agent's attempts to get Bravo a movie contract, at $100,000 for each of them. It's an unimaginable amount of money for these kids (all but one of them poor) and they believe that the agent, Albert, can work his magic on their behalf. Another set piece is Bravo's visit to the owner's and high rollers' boxes--a glimpse of Valhalla for young men who have known nothing but privation, fear, bugs, mud and field rations for months. The panoply of riches on display, from cashmere-coated scions to silky blonde women, with huge tables of food and booze nearby and incessant bonhomie and jingoistic blather are all heady stuff for 19-year-old Billy Lynn and his comrades.
Billy is the centerpiece of the novel. The steady thrum that beats through every page is his realization that he will be back in Iraq in 36 hours.
We see everything through the lens of his experience, at the center of which is the loss of his good friend, Shroom, in the firefight. Shroom knew everything; now he is gone and Billy is on his own.
Fountain has drawn an indelible portrait of kids who have enlisted because they didn't have any better idea or been sent to war by a judge as an alternative to jail. They found themselves in circumstances they could never have imagined and are now facing a return to the very real prospect of being killed. This interlude of hand-shaking, back-slapping congratulations, Texas-big and full of bluster, is mostly for their hosts, not for them.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a sad, true story about what adventure wars do to us, all of us. If it doesn't bring you to your knees, read it again. --Valerie Ryan
Shelf Talker: After surviving a Iraqi firefight, Bravo Squad faces an overwhelming celebration on the home front.