Here, Bullet [Paperback]

Brian Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Adding his voice to the current debate about the US occupation of Iraq, in poems written in the tradition of such poets as Wilfred Owen, Yusef Komunyakaa (Dien Cai Dau), Bruce Weigl (Song of Napalm) and Alice James’ own Doug Anderson (The Moon Reflected Fire), Iraqi war veteran Brian Turner writes power-fully affecting poetry of witness, exceptional for its beauty, honesty, and skill. Based on Turner’s yearlong tour in Iraq as an infantry team leader, the poems offer gracefully rendered, unflinching description but, remarkably, leave the reader to draw conclusions or moral lessons. Here, Bullet is a must-read for anyone who cares about the war, regardless of political affiliation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The verse in this book is not good, but it is, in a cultural moment that includes Cindy Sheehan, timely. Turner served seven years in the U.S. Army, including deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina with the 10th Mountain Division, and a year spent as an infantry team leader with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division in Iraq. He, begins, after a prefatory poem ("This is a language made of blood./ It is made of sand, and time. To be spoken, it must be earned"), with poems whose titles precisely describe their contents: the nightmarish dispersal of "The Baghdad Zoo," the infamous "Hwy 1" ("the Highway of Death"), "The Al-Harishma Weapons Market," "Body Bags," "Najaf, 1820," "Dreams from the Malaria Pills," "Katyusha Rockets," "Observation Post #798," "2000 lbs." (in one bomb)—along with medevacs, translators, civilians and much more. Turner earned an M.F.A. from the University of Oregon before joining the army. His work is straightforward and direct. It highlights the violence and death of the war in a manner little seen elsewhere. (Nov. 1)
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Review

"Turner attempts to capture the extreme experience of war by depicting the feelings it generates..." -- Library Journal

"Turner has sent back a dispatch from…the war in Iraq—and deserves our thanks…" -- The New York Times Book Review

"…a powerful reading experience…" -- The Franklin Journal

"…earnest, nonpartisan attention to the terrors as well as to the beauty of ruins." -- The New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice

"…written by a veteran whose eye for the telling detail is as strategic as it is poetic." -- The Globe and Mail

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Alice James Books; 1 edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882295552
• ISBN-13: 978-1882295555
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Turner earned an MFA from the University of Oregon and lived abroad in South Korea for a year before serving for seven years in the US Army. He was an infantry team leader for a year in Iraq beginning November 2003, with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Comb

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will join the canon of great war-related poetry, November 25, 2005

By 

Jon Burrows "Book man" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Here, Bullet (Paperback)

After learning about Brian Turner in The New Yorker, I purchased a copy of "Here, Bullet." I have just finished reading it cover to cover, and it is one of the finest collections of poetry--especially pertaining to warfare--I have ever read. For Publisher's Weekly NOT to give this book a starred review is astonishing; indeed, their review above demonstrates, once again, how profoundly ignorant they are concerning modern poetry. (Everyone in the poetry world knows that while PW's fiction and non-fiction reviews are quite solid, their poetry reviews are embarrassingly pedestrian.) As with any collection, there are some works in "Here, Bullet" that are stronger than others, but many of these poems are absolutely breathtaking. Turner has an exceptional gift for bringing images vividly to life, and his poems, overall, transcend the subject of war and capture emotions to which all readers will be able to relate. I highly recommend this book, and I believe that Turner--like Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, and McCrae before him--will become one of the most celebrated literary voices of his generation.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound, deep, moving - everything poetry should be, February 19, 2006

By 

doc peterson (Portland, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Here, Bullet (Paperback)

Brian Turner's poetry about his experiences in Iraq are, in a word, excellent. I could hardly believe that Publisher's Weekly panned it the way they did. Turner is not a Sassoon, Owen, or Graves, the war poets of an earlier age - his is a more contemporary voice. The opening poem, "A Soldier's Arabic" clearly demonstrates this - it is a poem not just about war, but about separation, love, tragedy and confusion. The entire collection shows the irony, sadness and yes, beauty of the Middle East.

"What Every Soldier Should Know" and "Ashbah" haunt me still with the raw emotion presented on the page. "Sadiq", "Last Night's Dream" and "9 Line Medivac" express feelings common to any combat soldier with a power rarely seen in literature. "Night in Blue", one of the final poems in the book, is a fitting way to conclude the collection, providing a sense of closure as Turner describes his journey home.

I hesitate to compare Brian Turner to other authors who have written of their combat experiences. The comparison only fits in that they are all veterans; _Here, Bullet_ is unique, profound, haunting and troubling. It is honest - which is as much as anyone can ask of a poet. Highly recommended.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tim O'Brien of Iraq War Poetry, February 16, 2006

By 

Kurt J. Ayau (Amherst, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Here, Bullet (Paperback)

Brian just spent two days at Virginia Military Institute as a guest of the Institute and the English Department where I teach. His reading last night and his readings in my classes today were among the best poetry readings I've ever heard. The poems in this collection can alternately sear themselves into your memory with their startling, and yet inevitable, images of the heartbreaking carnage of war, or transport you to a ruggedly beautiful landscape of delicate flowers, quiet night skies and the redemptive power of rain. This collection brings the war home in an urgent and slightly different way than we are accustomed--not the snapshots of the photojournalist, the terse dispatches from correspondents or even the handheld video of the networks. It works its magic by engaging our imaginations and our humanity, and for that everyone should be grateful.