Summer tales for the soul

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Redeployment by Phil Klay

This collection offers some of the top stories about the Iraq War. The New York Times called it one of the best fictions about war after Tim O'Brien's Vietnam War collection The Things They Carried. Phil Klay's stories are "the best thing written so far on what the war did to people's souls".

US writer Klay is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a veteran of the US Marine Corps. From January 2007 to February 2008, he served in Iraq's Anbar province as a public affairs officer. Anbar was among the most violent places in Iraq.

In the 12 short stories, Klay recounts the war from different perspectives of people including a serving soldier, a priest, a public affairs officer and an army veteran. He shows how the war psychologically affected people sent from the US to Iraq and how the conflict damaged their souls.

Published in 2014, it is Klay's first book. It won the US National Book Award for fiction.

Contact the writer at yangyangs@chinadaily.com.cn