Anthony swofford biography jarhead summary

2003 memoir by Anthony Swofford

Jarhead is a 2003 Gulf Warmemoir by author and former U.S. MarineAnthony Swofford. After leaving military service, the author went on to college and earned a double master's degree in Fine Arts at the University of Iowa.

Writing

Swofford started writing the book in 1995. He stated about the writing process: "I had modest goals for my first book. I didn’t think about sales numbers or a movie option or foreign rights and invitations to international book fairs.

Anthony swofford biography jarhead summary and analysis

I didn’t even know those things existed. Still heavily inhaling the fumes of pretension I’d earned at my MFA writing program, I wanted only to make art. I thought I possessed a number of unique and original insights about the making of young Marines and going to war and what combat does to a young psyche and soul.

I thought that on most days I could manage to turn out a page or two of good sentences. I wrote the best book I could. I wanted my book to teach young people