I don’t know how I missed this book. It came out in 2012 and it took me 7 years to pay attention to it. It was made in to a poorly-received film that I had no interest in watching. I still don’t know if I will watch the film, but I am so glad I found this book.
Billy Lynn is 19 years old and enlisted in the Army as a punishment for destruction of property. Billy and the other members of the ‘Bravo Squad’ became instant hero-celebrities when a Fox video crew embedded with them caught live footage of a firefight in which they defeated a group of Iraqi insurgents. Their instant celebrity warranted being brought back stateside for a Victory Tour across the U.S., with the final stop being the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game. Billy and the rest of the Bravos drink, eat, and drink their way through one meet-and-greet after another. All the while, a movie producer gives them frequent updates on the status of a planned movie about their experience.
The entire book takes place over the span of several hours at Texas Stadium. The limited location basically means that the men shuffle from seats, to club, to breezeway, to locker room, to club again and their day ultimately culminates in them standing mutely as props on stage for a half-time pop show. Despite the fixed location and short time span covered, we see Billy fall in love, get drunk, sober up, and continually think about a fallen comrade. The book leans heavily on the empty words of the civilians the Bravos meet, and contrasts their iminent return to Iraq with the hollow pomp and spectacle being made of them on their tour. Billy and his fellow soldiers are by turns giddy, furious and terrified and sometimes all at once.
I loved this book, I loved these characters, I was sorry to have to leave them when it ended.