My War, by Colby "CBFTW" Buzzell

Ya know what Flowers?

I thought I could do a "straight", completely serious book review on Perv Rep.

I agonized. I obsessed. I tried. I swear I did.

But it JUST. DIDN'T. WORK.

I just have to be me. *grin* So here we go.....a book review, Blondage-style. Part playful, a bit flirty, with some serious thrown in here and there. ;)

First of all....the cover is fierce. Powerful. Striking. As in, stop-a-girl-in-her-tracks kind of striking. If I bought books based just on cover design, I'd be buying this one by the crate and papering the walls of my office with it.

Heck. Maybe I'll do that anyway.

*grin*

Reading CB's book reminded me of going in to "subspace". Intense and scary, and, at times, completely and utterly mindblowing....it sent my endorphins firing...gave me a total adrenaline rush. By the time I finished the book I was so stunned, shell-shocked and floaty that Other Half was teasing me about having a new boyfriend.

Just. Plain. Dayum.

Before I go on, I must make one thing absolutely clear. You need not have read his blog or know his "story" in order to get in to this book. CB's book is laid out chronologically -- starting with how he decided to join the military, moving in to recruitment and boot camp, on to Iraq, how his extraordinary blog began and went dark, and through his plane ride home. The blog posts included in the book hop around a bit "date-wise", but in a way that enriched the stories he was telling. Everything is woven together seamlessly. The book has a great flow to it.

For those as yet uninitiated, Colby's writing style is unique. I've always thought it feels as if he is having a conversation with you instead of typing something for you to read. I've heard several people call it "stream of consciousness" style. CB gets compared to Hunter S. Thompson a lot. I can understand the comparison, but truly, his writing is just not like anyone else's. Raw and emotional, but in a controlled way that is hard to describe and do justice to it.

CB is sarcastic, funny, honest, brave as hell and a total bad ass. He may seem at the start off the book as sort of an "everyman", but hold on to your hat. Human, yes. But "everyman", HELL NO (and I mean that as the highest possible compliment).

I don't want to give too many details away, especially for those of you who were lucky enough to have read his blog "live" like me when he was in Iraq. His other early followers will learn plenty of new things about him and what he went through; the very things our brave men and women continue to through. The descriptions of the guerilla style warfare he fought against will make you feel like you are riding a runaway damn roller coaster. (And yes, for my fellow original blogreaders of his who keep asking me, "Men in Black" is in the book.)

We still have soldiers far from home, fighting hard, getting hurt, dying for our freedom. This book will give you a strong mental picture of what they have gone through and are continuing to go through.

I know the majority of my readers already have the utmost respect for our soldiers and what they sacrifice for us back here at home...but there are some clueless individuals out there ya know.

I want to put forth an idea that actually originated from Colby to you, my dear Flowers.

First, buy the book and read it. You will thank me. Trust me.

After you finish reading your copy, find someone who would never in a million years buy a book written by a soldier at war. Someone perhaps hostile to our military, with little to no understanding of what our soldiers go through (I chose a goofy, loopy cousin -- doesn't every family have a least one?). Loan it to them. Dare them to read it and not be changed by it. And no, you ninnies, I am not singling out any particular political party. There's goofy loopies on all sides of the aisle.

If even a small percentage of the goofy loopies we loan or give our copies to grasp it and begin the "deprogramming" process.....how extraordinary would that be?

I truly believe that will be Colby's legacy.

And hey, if you're lucky, you may get to experience a bit of subspace too. ;)

BUY. THIS. BOOK.