About the Author

Dexter Filkins, a foreign correspondent for "The New""York Times," has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. Before that, he worked for the "Los Angeles Times," where he was chief of the paper's New Delhi bureau, and for "The""Miami Herald." He has been a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and a winner of a George Polk Award and two Overseas Press Club awards. Most recently, he was a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reviews

"Harrowingly detailed . . . Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the 'war on terror.'"
-"The New York Times" 10 Best Books of 2008
"The gaping wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan have produced a torrent of words, but no single volume so far has the precision and power of "The Forever War" . . . Filkins' set pieces have the absolute clarity of lightning flashes that burn away the fog of war."
-"Time" Best Nonfiction Books of 2008
"Not since Michael Herr in "Dispatches" . . . has a reporter written as vividly about combat as Filkins does from Afghanistan and Iraq."
-"USA Today" 10 Best Books of 2008
"Filkins's meticulously constructed vignettes . . . illuminate and humanize the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan."
"-Los Angeles Times "Favorite Books 2008
""The Forever War" . . . achieves a gripping, raw immediacy."
-"The Boston Globe"'s Year's Best Books
"Splendid."
-"Washington Post Book World" Best Nonfiction of 2008
"Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War" is the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty."
-Dave Eggers, "Guardian" Best Books of the Year
"
"""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. "The Forever War" is h

""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. "The Forever War" is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever."
-Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
"
"Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense."
-Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
"
""Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history."
-Robert Stone, on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review"
"
" "Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War," brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic."
-"Vanity Fair
""Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam in" Dispatches "was a sort of Jackson Pollock-streaks ofblood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugs-"The Forever War "is like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds."
-John Leonard, "Harper's
""Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War" is the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty."
-Dave Eggers
"
""The definitive-and heartbreakingly humanizing-report from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan . . ." "Few war reporters can match Filkins's ambition and fortitude; even fewer possess his descriptive powers . . . "The Forever War "[is] about all wars, everywhere-and a book that will be read fifty years from now."
-Andrew Corsello," GQ
""Dexter Filkins is one of war writings' modern marvels, a writer of tremendous gifts and appropriate grit to go where others will not . . . The level of accessibility of Filkins's work . . . is the writer's greatest gift. He parts the gun smoke in a preternatural way. He seems to see things others simply do not . . . It's an ability that allows him to convey inelegant truths of war in crisp, never saccharine prose . . . The importance of what Filkins captures here is inestimable . . . If no book can ever truly take you into the foxhole, Filkins's "War "takes you as close as you might be comfortable.""
"-Henry C. Jackson," Associated Press
""Thebest war reportage you are apt to read in a lifetime."
-Joseph C. Goulden, "The Washington Times"
"
""Unflinching . . . Filkins confronts the absurdity of war head-on . . . This is a page-turner, and one of the most astounding books yet written about the war in Iraq . . . Filkins doesn't lecture, he just reports, in great and perfect detail."
-Gilbert Cruz, "Time
""[Filkins is] an almost absurdly brave war correspondent . . . his brilliant, sad, unique book . . . may be the most readable book about Iraq. It's certainly one of the most artful. . . We're the better for it."
-Hilary Frey," The New York Observer
""Brilliant . . ." The Forever War," . . deserves to be ranked as a classic . . . and is likely to be regarded as the definitive account of how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were experienced by those who actually waged them . . . Thanks to one reporter's heroic act of witness and brilliant recitation of what he saw, we can see the war-as it is, and for ourselves."
-Tim Rutten," Los Angeles Times
""Profoundly moving . . . Grim, uplifting, and arrow-accurate," The Forever War "is a classic."
-Gaylord Dold," The Wichita Eagle
""A kaleidoscope of images and intensity . . . It is written in finely honed bursts of vibrant color that capture the peculiar culture of the war . . . It is a raw and riveting account . . . his honesty in portraying the war implicitly exposes the hollowness of the platitudes used in Washington to defend it."
-Chris Hedges," Philadelphia Inquirer
""For [its] unconventional format, and for its literary merit," The Forever War "has been compared-and not at all outrageously-to Michael Herr's" Dispatches," Filkinsevokes the terror and terrible thrill of battle better than any of his colleagues . . . Not only does he display a reporter's sharp eye for detail . . . he captures the sights and sounds of combat with considerable skill, in spare but powerful prose."
-Chris Toensing," The Nation
""Brilliant, riveting, and deeply disquieting."
-Hugh Hewitt," Townhall
""Unvarnished and unforgettable."
"-Esquire
""Splendid . . . it shines as a work of literature, illuminating the human cost of war."
-Bing West, "The Washington Post
""Rich with details both grotesque and sublime . . ." The Forever War "is a masterpiece of nuance."
-Matthew B. Stannard," The San Francisco Chronicle
"
"Gut-wrenching and touching . . .Mr. Filkins's stories are those of a writer willing to endure hardship, danger and anguish to paint an accurate picture of war for the American public . . . His prose is as blunt as it is powerful."
-Lee H. Hamilton, "The New York Times
""In his extraordinary-and extraordinarily important-book, [Dexter] Filkins does not rush to condemn; his is an impeccably balanced story of hope and despair . . ." The Forever War "is indispensible: a lesson in reporting.""
"-James Grant," The Herald
""Filkins . . . is a courageous reporter and an original writer . . . The narrative holds together through the power of his writing . . . "The Forever War" is an astonishingly good book."
-Evan Wright," LA Weekly
""Addictive . . . [Filkins is] a master of the moment, of the concrete, of texture; where others try to explain, he wants you to know what being there feels like . . . I couldn't put this book down."
-Craig Seligman, "Bloomberg
""Dexter Filkins . . . is well on his way to becoming the preeminent war reporter of this tumultuous era . . . His understated prose offers a stiletto-sharp account of places he's gone and people he's met."
-John Marshall," Seattle Post Intelligencer
""Wonderfully written and carefully researched . . . Filkins's meticulous attention to detail and his bravery . . . [are] evident on every page . . . "The Forever War," . . serves as a powerful lesson in what it takes to cover the complexities of war . . . [Dexter Filkins] has put himself in the middle of this madness to deliver a stunning and illuminating story."
-Chuck Leddy," Christian Science Monitor
""[Filkins is] the real deal, a reporter's reporter . . . his brave and stunning new book . . . pulses with prose so lean-whipsawing between brutality and beauty-that it takes your breath away."
-Paul Grondahl," Times Union
" "A chilling and ethereal narrative of loss and the promise of loss."
-Jim Chiavelli," The Boston Globe
""Phenomenal . . . "The Forever War "makes the war in Iraq so real, so haunting, that you'll want to sleep with the book next to your bed and read it in every spare moment until the last page. It does what a great book about war, loss, politics, and sacrifice should-it moves, shocks, entertains, educates, and inspires." The Forever War "is peerless-a classic."
-Genvieve Long, "The Epoch Times"

"Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. "The Forever War" is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever."
-Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
"
"Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense."
-Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history."
-Robert Stone, on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review"
"
" "Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War," brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic."
-"Vanity Fair
""Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam in" Dispatches "was a sort of Jackson Pollock-streaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugs-"The Forever War "is like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds."
-John Leonard, "Harper's
""[Filkins is] an almost absurdly brave war correspondent . . . his brilliant, sad, unique book . . . may be the most readable book about Iraq. It's certainly one of the most artful. . . We're the better for it."
-Hilary Frey," The New York Observer"
"
""Unvarnished and unforgettable."
"-Esquire
""Splendid . . . it shines as a work of literature, illuminating the human cost of war."
-Bing West, "The Washington Post"
"Gut-wrenching and touching . . .Mr. Filkins's stories are those of a writer willing to endure hardship, danger and anguish to paint an accurate picture of war for the American public . . . His prose is as blunt as it is powerful."
-Lee H. Hamilton, "The New York Times
""In his extraordinary-and extraordinarily important-book, [Dexter] Filkins does not rush to condemn; his is an impeccably balanced story of hope and despair . . ." The Forever War "is indispensible: a lesson in reporting.""
"-James Grant," The Herald
""Filkins . . . is a courageous reporter and an original writer . . . [He] has the instincts of a short story writer . . . Locations and characters change, but the narrative holds together through the power of his writing . . . "The Forever War" is an astonishingly good book."
-Evan Wright," LA Weekly
""Addictive . . . [Filkins is] a master of the moment, of the concrete, of texture; where others try to explain, he wants you to know what being there feels like . . . I couldn't put thisbook down."
-Craig Seligman, "Bloomberg
"

"Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history."
-Robert Stone, on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review
" "Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War," brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic."
-Elissa Schappell, "Vanity Fair
""Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. In an age of know-it-all pundits and preening bloggers, Filkins is the real thing. He's been everywhere, he's seen everything, and, miraculously, he's lived to tell the tale. "The Forever War" is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever."
-Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide"
"Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense."
-Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. A lot has been written about Iraq and Afghanistan, but no one has seen as much, survived as much, and registered the horror with such sad eloquence as Dexter Filkins.His combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Unvarnished and unforgettable."
"-Esquire
"
""The Forever War" . . . promises to be one of the year's major books on America's war on terror. Read it and weep-for Afghanistan, for Iraq, and for anyone who has had to witness such devastation."
-Sarah Gold, "Notes from the Bookroom"
"
""In his extraordinary-and extraordinarily important-book, [Dexter] Filkins does not rush to condemn; his is an impeccably balanced story of hope and despair. Through a series of surreal and jaw-dropping vignettes from Afghanistan and Iraq, each written with considerable literary flare," The Forever War" takes us to the people affected by these wars in a way no other account has quite managed . . ." The Forever War "is indispensible: a lesson in reporting.""
"-James Grant," The Herald
"

"Harrowingly detailed . . . Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the 'war on terror.'"
-"The New York Times" 10 Best Books of 2008
"The gaping wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan have produced a torrent of words, but no single volume so far has the precision and power of "The Forever War" . . . Filkins' set pieces have the absolute clarity of lightning flashes that burn away the fog of war."
-"Time" Best Nonfiction Books of 2008
"Not since Michael Herr in "Dispatches" . . . has a reporter written as vividly about combat as Filkins does from Afghanistan and Iraq."
-"USA Today" 10 Best Books of 2008
"Filkins's meticulously constructed vignettes . . . illuminate and humanize the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan."
"-Los Angeles Times "Favorite Books 2008
""The Forever War" . . . achieves a gripping, raw immediacy."
-"The Boston Globe"'s Year's Best Books
"Splendid."
-"Washington Post Book World" Best Nonfiction of 2008
"Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War" is the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty."
-Dave Eggers, "Guardian" Best Books of the Year
"
"""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. "The Forever War" is h
""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. "The Forever War" is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever."
-Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
"
"Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense."
-Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
"
""Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history."
-Robert Stone, on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review"
"
" "Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War," brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic."
-"Vanity Fair
""Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam in" Dispatches "was a sort of Jackson Pollock-streaks ofblood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugs-"The Forever War "is like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds."
-John Leonard, "Harper's
""Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War" is the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty."
-Dave Eggers
"
""The definitive-and heartbreakingly humanizing-report from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan . . ." "Few war reporters can match Filkins's ambition and fortitude; even fewer possess his descriptive powers . . . "The Forever War "[is] about all wars, everywhere-and a book that will be read fifty years from now."
-Andrew Corsello," GQ
""Dexter Filkins is one of war writings' modern marvels, a writer of tremendous gifts and appropriate grit to go where others will not . . . The level of accessibility of Filkins's work . . . is the writer's greatest gift. He parts the gun smoke in a preternatural way. He seems to see things others simply do not . . . It's an ability that allows him to convey inelegant truths of war in crisp, never saccharine prose . . . The importance of what Filkins captures here is inestimable . . . If no book can ever truly take you into the foxhole, Filkins's "War "takes you as close as you might be comfortable.""
"-Henry C. Jackson," Associated Press
""Thebest war reportage you are apt to read in a lifetime."
-Joseph C. Goulden, "The Washington Times"
"
""Unflinching . . . Filkins confronts the absurdity of war head-on . . . This is a page-turner, and one of the most astounding books yet written about the war in Iraq . . . Filkins doesn't lecture, he just reports, in great and perfect detail."
-Gilbert Cruz, "Time
""[Filkins is] an almost absurdly brave war correspondent . . . his brilliant, sad, unique book . . . may be the most readable book about Iraq. It's certainly one of the most artful. . . We're the better for it."
-Hilary Frey," The New York Observer
""Brilliant . . ." The Forever War," . . deserves to be ranked as a classic . . . and is likely to be regarded as the definitive account of how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were experienced by those who actually waged them . . . Thanks to one reporter's heroic act of witness and brilliant recitation of what he saw, we can see the war-as it is, and for ourselves."
-Tim Rutten," Los Angeles Times
""Profoundly moving . . . Grim, uplifting, and arrow-accurate," The Forever War "is a classic."
-Gaylord Dold," The Wichita Eagle
""A kaleidoscope of images and intensity . . . It is written in finely honed bursts of vibrant color that capture the peculiar culture of the war . . . It is a raw and riveting account . . . his honesty in portraying the war implicitly exposes the hollowness of the platitudes used in Washington to defend it."
-Chris Hedges," Philadelphia Inquirer
""For [its] unconventional format, and for its literary merit," The Forever War "has been compared-and not at all outrageously-to Michael Herr's" Dispatches," Filkinsevokes the terror and terrible thrill of battle better than any of his colleagues . . . Not only does he display a reporter's sharp eye for detail . . . he captures the sights and sounds of combat with considerable skill, in spare but powerful prose."
-Chris Toensing," The Nation
""Brilliant, riveting, and deeply disquieting."
-Hugh Hewitt," Townhall
""Unvarnished and unforgettable."
"-Esquire
""Splendid . . . it shines as a work of literature, illuminating the human cost of war."
-Bing West, "The Washington Post
""Rich with details both grotesque and sublime . . ." The Forever War "is a masterpiece of nuance."
-Matthew B. Stannard," The San Francisco Chronicle
"
"Gut-wrenching and touching . . .Mr. Filkins's stories are those of a writer willing to endure hardship, danger and anguish to paint an accurate picture of war for the American public . . . His prose is as blunt as it is powerful."
-Lee H. Hamilton, "The New York Times
""In his extraordinary-and extraordinarily important-book, [Dexter] Filkins does not rush to condemn; his is an impeccably balanced story of hope and despair . . ." The Forever War "is indispensible: a lesson in reporting.""
"-James Grant," The Herald
""Filkins . . . is a courageous reporter and an original writer . . . The narrative holds together through the power of his writing . . . "The Forever War" is an astonishingly good book."
-Evan Wright," LA Weekly
""Addictive . . . [Filkins is] a master of the moment, of the concrete, of texture; where others try to explain, he wants you to know what being there feels like . . . I couldn't put this book down."
-Craig Seligman, "Bloomberg
""Dexter Filkins . . . is well on his way to becoming the preeminent war reporter of this tumultuous era . . . His understated prose offers a stiletto-sharp account of places he's gone and people he's met."
-John Marshall," Seattle Post Intelligencer
""Wonderfully written and carefully researched . . . Filkins's meticulous attention to detail and his bravery . . . [are] evident on every page . . . "The Forever War," . . serves as a powerful lesson in what it takes to cover the complexities of war . . . [Dexter Filkins] has put himself in the middle of this madness to deliver a stunning and illuminating story."
-Chuck Leddy," Christian Science Monitor
""[Filkins is] the real deal, a reporter's reporter . . . his brave and stunning new book . . . pulses with prose so lean-whipsawing between brutality and beauty-that it takes your breath away."
-Paul Grondahl," Times Union
" "A chilling and ethereal narrative of loss and the promise of loss."
-Jim Chiavelli," The Boston Globe
""Phenomenal . . . "The Forever War "makes the war in Iraq so real, so haunting, that you'll want to sleep with the book next to your bed and read it in every spare moment until the last page. It does what a great book about war, loss, politics, and sacrifice should-it moves, shocks, entertains, educates, and inspires." The Forever War "is peerless-a classic."
-Genvieve Long, "The Epoch Times"
"Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. "The Forever War" is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever."
-Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
"
"Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense."
-Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins's combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history."
-Robert Stone, on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review"
"
" "Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War," brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic."
-"Vanity Fair
""Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam in" Dispatches "was a sort of Jackson Pollock-streaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugs-"The Forever War "is like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds."
-John Leonard, "Harper's
""[Filkins is] an almost absurdly brave war correspondent . . . his brilliant, sad, unique book . . . may be the most readable book about Iraq. It's certainly one of the most artful. . . We're the better for it."
-Hilary Frey," The New York Observer"
"
""Unvarnished and unforgettable."
"-Esquire
""Splendid . . . it shines as a work of literature, illuminating the human cost of war."
-Bing West, "The Washington Post"
"Gut-wrenching and touching . . .Mr. Filkins's stories are those of a writer willing to endure hardship, danger and anguish to paint an accurate picture of war for the American public . . . His prose is as blunt as it is powerful."
-Lee H. Hamilton, "The New York Times
""In his extraordinary-and extraordinarily important-book, [Dexter] Filkins does not rush to condemn; his is an impeccably balanced story of hope and despair . . ." The Forever War "is indispensible: a lesson in reporting.""
"-James Grant," The Herald
""Filkins . . . is a courageous reporter and an original writer . . . [He] has the instincts of a short story writer . . . Locations and characters change, but the narrative holds together through the power of his writing . . . "The Forever War" is an astonishingly good book."
-Evan Wright," LA Weekly
""Addictive . . . [Filkins is] a master of the moment, of the concrete, of texture; where others try to explain, he wants you to know what being there feels like . . . I couldn't put thisbook down."
-Craig Seligman, "Bloomberg
"
"Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history."
-Robert Stone, on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review
" "Dexter Filkins's "The Forever War," brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic."
-Elissa Schappell, "Vanity Fair
""Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. In an age of know-it-all pundits and preening bloggers, Filkins is the real thing. He's been everywhere, he's seen everything, and, miraculously, he's lived to tell the tale. "The Forever War" is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever."
-Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide"
"Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense."
-Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
""The Forever War" is already a classic-it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. A lot has been written about Iraq and Afghanistan, but no one has seen as much, survived as much, and registered the horror with such sad eloquence as Dexter Filkins.His combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours."
-George Packer, author of "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
""Unvarnished and unforgettable."
"-Esquire
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""The Forever War" . . . promises to be one of the year's major books on America's war on terror. Read it and weep-for Afghanistan, for Iraq, and for anyone who has had to witness such devastation."
-Sarah Gold, "Notes from the Bookroom"
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""In his extraordinary-and extraordinarily important-book, [Dexter] Filkins does not rush to condemn; his is an impeccably balanced story of hope and despair. Through a series of surreal and jaw-dropping vignettes from Afghanistan and Iraq, each written with considerable literary flare," The Forever War" takes us to the people affected by these wars in a way no other account has quite managed . . ." The Forever War "is indispensible: a lesson in reporting.""
"-James Grant," The Herald
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