Samuel Finlay's Breakfast With the Dirt Cult

Please use this sub-forum to discuss any fiction books or series that do not fit into one of the other categories. If the fiction book fits into one the other categories, please use that category instead.
Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
DiDonovan
Posts: 16
Joined: 06 Nov 2014, 13:24
Bookshelf Size: 0

Samuel Finlay's Breakfast With the Dirt Cult

Post by DiDonovan »

I looked for a forum on military fiction but didn't see one - but then, I normally don't read this genre, either. But I read Samuel Finlay's Breakfast With the Dirt Cult back in April this year and I'm still reflecting on its contents - which tells me it's a good read no matter what the genre (half the time I've forgotten a book by the time a month goes by, there's just so much out there!)

If there's any 'look-alikes', I'd like to know:

Breakfast with the Dirt Cult is a gritty, you-are-there account of Tom's life and is loosely based on the author's own experiences 'in country' nearly a decade ago. As such, the story has a realistic feel that many a story of wartime experience simply doesn't capture, from its opening in Montreal (where Tom is on military leave from training before deployment) to his relationship with the saucy Amy (who becomes his pen pal after he leaves.)

From basic training to the front lines of Afghanistan, Breakfast with the Dirt Cult simply shines when it describes military experience; especially when foreign policy snafus are revealed. Encounters between military men range from humorous to dead serious; especially between the brass and those under them.

How does one not merely survive, but thrive, under military service? And how does the daily specter of combat, death or worse become offset by changes in attitude?

Don't expect any sugar-coating here: there's a lot of profanity, a lot of back-and-forth between protagonists that could sometimes become confusing, and a lot of unexpected fun (yes, fun!) woven into the process.

Is Breakfast with the Dirt Cult an easy read? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Is it involving? Always. Is it linear and clear? Not always.

Any reader seeking a multifaceted 'war story' of a soldier's struggle to 'live another day' despite it all will find Breakfast with the Dirt Cult ultimately (and at once) challenging and satisfying.
Post Reply

Return to “Other Fiction Forum”