FOBBIT, by David Abrams

Author Abrams - think of Abrams tank - has written a razor-edged, comic but not funny, from-the-inside tale of life at the U.S. Army's Forward Base Triumph in recently-liberated Baghdad. Largely told from the view of the career functionaries in the spin - also known as Public Relations - department, whose time on deployment is lived in comparative comfort contrasted with the outside-the-wire lives of the soldiers who actually fire their guns. Meet Lt. Col. Eustace Harkleroad, whose nervous tic is his inevitable nosebleeds when faced with making any decision. Or his assistant, Sgt. Chance Gooding Jr. whose fragile hold on bravery may crack any day. And then there's the uber-incompetent Capt. Abe Shrinkle, whose goofs go from mild to catastrophic. Abrams is a been-there-done-that kind of author, and the authenticty rings from every page. A 4+. Could be a good book for a group.