The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah--A Memoir (Hardcover)

~ Joel Chasnoff (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A great tale, a Jewish Jarhead. It's a book about war, peace, marriage, the Middle East, titty twisters, and Spam. A funny, thoughtful, and poignant story." -- A. J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically

"In this illuminating work Joel Chasnoff does for the IDF what Mailer did for the Pacific campaign and O'Brien for the war in Vietnam. This is a chilling book." -- Anthony Swofford, New York Times bestselling author of Jarhead

"Joel Chasnoff writes like Woody Allen channeling Leon Uris, with altogether charming results. As hilarious, unsparing, and surprisingly tender a memoir as they come." -- Elisa Albert, author of The Book of Dahlia

"Joel Chasnoff's fascinating account of his time in the Israel Defense Forces is a rare window into the real Israel. If you really want to understand the Jewish state and its army, put away the propaganda and read this unusually funny and honest book." -- Sam Apple, author of Schlepping Through the Alps and American Parent

"This comic coming-of-age memoir is as touching as it is tough, as insightful as it is funny. The 188th Crybaby Brigade is an unsentimental but moving portrait of a soldier's heart and mind." -- Lauren Weisberger, New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and Chasing Harry Winston

Product Description

Look at me. Do you see me? Do you see me in my olive-green uniform, beret, and shiny black boots? Do you see the assault rifle slung across my chest? Finally! I am the badass Israeli soldier at the side of the road, in sunglasses, forearms like bricks. And honestly -- have you ever seen anything quite like me?

Joel Chasnoff is twenty-four years old, an American, and the graduate of an Ivy League university. But when his career as a stand-up comic fails to get off the ground, Chasnoff decides it's time for a serious change of pace. Leaving behind his amenity-laden Brooklyn apartment for a plane ticket to Israel, Joel trades in the comforts of being a stereotypical American Jewish male for an Uzi, dog tags (with his name misspelled), and serious mental and physical abuse at the hands of the Israeli Army.

The 188th Crybaby Brigade is a hilarious and poignant account of Chasnoff's year in the Israel Defense Forces -- a year that he volunteered for, and that he'll never get back. As a member of the 188th Armored Brigade, a unit trained on the Merkava tanks that make up the backbone of Israeli ground forces, Chasnoff finds himself caught in a twilight zone-like world of mandatory snack breaks, battalion sing-alongs, and eighteen-year-old Israeli mama's boys who feign injuries to get out of guard duty and claim diarrhea to avoid kitchen work. More time is spent arguing over how to roll a sleeve cuff than studying the mechanics of the Merkava tanks. The platoon sergeants are barely older than the soldiers and are younger than Chasnoff himself. By the time he's sent to Lebanon for a tour of duty against Hezbollah, Chasnoff knows everything about why snot dries out in the desert, yet has never been trained in firing the MAG. And all this while his relationship with his tough-as-nails Israeli girlfriend (herself a former drill sergeant) crumbles before his very eyes.

The lone American in a platoon of eighteen-year-old Israelis, Chasnoff takes readers into the barracks; over, under, and through political fences; and face-to-face with the absurd reality of life in the Israeli Army. It is a brash and gritty depiction of combat, rife with ego clashes, breakdowns in morale, training mishaps that almost cost lives, and the barely containable sexual urges of a group of teenagers. What's more, it's an on-the-ground account of life in one of the most em-battled armies on earth -- an occupying force in a hostile land, surrounded by enemy governments and terrorists, reviled by much of the world. With equal parts irreverence and vulnerability, irony and intimacy, Chasnoff narrates a new kind of coming-of-age story -- one that teaches us, moves us, and makes us laugh.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (February 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416549323
• ISBN-13: 978-1416549321
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gritty tale of desert sand and abrasive Jewish law, February 16, 2010

By	Sallie C. "SalGal" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

In a memoir that will make you sweat bullets and cry over spilt mikvah bath water, Joel Chasnoff takes the reader on a journey from his Chicago Jewish day school to armored tank school in the desert of Israel.
His good intention to serve in the Israeli army as a kind of nod to his heritage, told in tandem with his love affair and attempt to marry his Israeli girlfriend tells an ironic story that supports the truth in the statement, "no good deed goes unpunished."
Hilarious and at times unbelievable tales of his band of unlikely brothers in the army make for a very detailed and personal account of the inner workings of a defense system that succeeds in spite of itself. As his stint in basic training drags endlessly on, relieved only by occasional weekend furloughs into Jerusalem, Joel begins to doubt not only his faithfulness to the Israeli army and his girlfriend, but also his faith in his faith. Told with an uncommon honesty, an unfailing sense of wry humor and peppered with dilemmas that would stump the most thoughtful of Jewish scholars, his story is at once thoughtful and memorable.
After overcoming his reservations toward the slapdash training he receives as a soldier expected to defend the State of Israel and successfully completing his year of service, he is confronted with an enemy he never expected to encounter- a rabbinic counsel in Jerusalem that declares war on his Jewish identity when he and his fiance apply for a marriage license. Suddenly, Joel is in a battle with himself and the spiritual foundation on which he has lived his life. Eventually, Chicago and Jerusalem, Ireland and Israel converge in his mind and heart to resolve his poignant dilemma.
This is a book worth reading and talking about.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Read - Couldn't Put It Down, February 12, 2010

By	Jason Leibowitz "Shuki" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I was inspired to pick up a copy after seeing Joel Chasnoff perform at Limmud NY - he was hilarious and what he said about the book was hilarious too. I was right.

This book gives the reader a real insight into the Armored Division of the IDF, a real "behind-the-scenes" story that is at the same time both hilarious and horrifying. On top of being a great read, this book touches upon the differences in Israeli society and how difficult it is for an American Jew to try to integrate into that society.

I highly recommend this book! I can't remember the last time I read for hours straight and finished a book in one sitting. The most entertaining read I've had in a while.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SURPRISING AND AMAZING, February 9, 2010

By	Einat Admony "BOOK GEEK" (New York USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

one of the best book I ever read.
It was very hard to let it rest for a minute.
I never laughed so much.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!