This book shows up on many 'best books' lists. I don't get it. While there are many insightful moments in the book - -and I am glad that I read it -- the read was a slog. It is about the press tour that a group of Iraq soldiers make around the U.S. after the media has captured their heroism on camera. They are escorted by a Hollywood poducer, and the ultimately end up at Cowboys Stadium for a day that is chronicled in the book. The crowd reactions, the business dealings, the face-to-face meetings with professional football players all make for interesting and insightful interactions -- but again, it felt like it took an awfully long time to get through.

Putting the grunts of 2007 in Cowboy stadium could not provide a better view of America in battle. Watching a 19 year-old come to grips with the disconnect between his reality and the reality of a citizenry connected to his war through imbedded video is a brilliant way of explaining why war persists and why soldiers choose to risk their lives. It makes one wonder if it's an evolutionary flaw that permits us to romanticize armed conflict over the past 250,000 years.

amazing 24 hours elapsed comparing Dallas Cowboys to US Military Industrial Complex. Extremely well written