In collaboration with So Say We All‘s Veterans Writing Division, founder Justin Hudnall and The Wrath-Bearing T…
Tag: nonfiction
New Nonfiction by M.C. Armstrong: “Murder Most Foul: The Role of Lyndon Johnson in the Murder of John F. Kennedy”
What is the truth, and where did it go? Ask Oswald and Ruby, they oughta know. “Shut your mouth, ”…
New Nonfiction from Sari Fordham: “Mending”
Our pre-WWII house has two small bedrooms, a tiny closet in each. I feel virtuous when I fit my clothing into one, le…
New Nonfiction from Fabrizia Faustinella: “Infinitesimal Possibilities”
You are in the stairwell, standing with a few of your fellow medical students, waiting for that door in the basement …
New nonfiction from Rebecca Rolland: “A Letter to My Ten-Year-Old Daughter
“Something terrible happened today.” “At my school?” you asked. “No,” I replied. …
New Nonfiction from Dr. Anthony Gomes: “The Gun Culture in America: Will There be a Light at the End of the Tunnel?”
To fathom the Gun Culture and gun-related violence in the US, it is important to understand The Second Amendment (Ame…
New Nonfiction from Ulf Pike: “Tone Deaf”
With a slightly youthful blurring of reality, sandhill cranes resemble pterodactyls in flight. Each year when they re…
New Review from Brian Castner: Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Bomber Mafia”
Why did Malcolm Gladwell write a World War II book? The bombing campaign over Europe and Japan is hardly his typical …
New Nonfiction from Karl Meade: “Knee-Capped”
We all live in a kind of delirium: as if we have control of our lives, while we know damn well something is coming. W…
New Nonfiction from Jon Imparato: “You Had Me at Afghanistan”
“I was lying in a burned‐out basement with the full moon in my eyes. I was hoping for replacement when the sun burst …
Book Review: Lauren Hough’s ‘Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing’ and Sari Fordham’s ‘Wait for God to Notice’
“I was like an inept spy pretending to be American based on movies I’d watched and books I’d read.” — Lauren Ho…
New Nonfiction from M.C. Armstrong: “J.F.K. Revisited: Through the Looking-Glass”
I write this review of Oliver Stone’s new film during the most bizarre month in America since the January of the Capi…
New Nonfiction from J. Malcolm Garcia: “Alabama Village”
(Editor’s Note: Some names have been changed for privacy.) The three white, rectangular buildings of Light of t…
New Review from Matthew Komatsu: Adin Dobkin’s ‘Sprinting Through No-Man’s Land’
I cannot separate my early memories of war from those of cycling. I’d just begun to cycle competitively — as a lieute…
New Nonfiction by David Chrisinger: “Stories Are What Save Us: A Survivor’s Guide to Writing about Trauma”
The following is an excerpt from David Chrisinger’s new book, Stories Are What Save Us: A Survivor’s Guid…
New Review from Adrian Bonenberger: “‘The Hardest Place’: Wes Morgan’s Post-Mortem on Americans in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley”
If I were to write a morality tale about America’s counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan—something in line with Ed…
New Nonfiction from J. Malcolm Garcia: “The Forced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone”
Ng Shui Meng speaks of her husband Sombath Somphone in the present tense, with a firm matter-of-fact tone about his d…
New Nonfiction from Sarah Haak: “Assimilation”
My husband has downloaded a sleep cycle app for his phone. Every evening he tucks the phone into bed with him, under …
New Nonfiction from Erin Carpenter: “Fully Involved: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Date Night”
Part 1: The Healing Shed In 2016, my husband burned our guesthouse to the ground. He left a t-shirt over a lightbulb …
Loyal to the Corps: A Review of Teresa Fazio’s ‘Fidelis’
The motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, or USMC, is “Semper Fidelis.” Commonly translated to “always faithful,” the motto…
New Nonfiction from Teresa Fazio: “Light My Fire”
The following excerpt is from Teresa Fazio’s Fidelis: A Memoir, reprinted with permission from Potomac Books.&n…
New Nonfiction from Charles Stromme: “The Army Profoundly Regrets”
1972 I was back from a year of flying helicopters in Vietnam. The Army gave me a make-work job at Ft. Riley, Kansas, …
Nonfiction from Caitlin McGill: “Paved in Gold”
“Even if one does not know the history, one feels the presence of the past.” ~Peter Balakian “You have to beat the eg…
Lauren Johnson Interviews Amy Waldman, Author of ‘A Door in the Earth’
Amy Waldman’s novel, A Door in the Earth, follows Parveen, a young Afghan-American woman who returns to her war…
It Just Keeps Going
The first time I heard the phrase “Hate Train,” I was stationed in Japan with the Navy, attempting to enjoy a bowl of…
Film Review: JOKER, by Adrian Bonenberger and Andria Williams
Andria Williams: Hey there, Adrian. Adrian Bonenberger: Hi, Andria. Williams: So, I heard you recently saw “Joker” in…
Happy Birthday, Afghanistan
October 08, 2019 The war in Afghanistan is now old enough to go to war in Afghanistan. Yesterday the war in Afghanist…
New Nonfiction: Soft Target
When I was nineteen years old, in 2016, I joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). I sat at my family’s kitchen table,…
Book Review by Eric Chandler: IT’S MY COUNTRY, TOO
This happened in the 1980’s. Maybe it was after I joined the military or before, when I was thinking about it. In eit…
An Interview with Brooke King, author of WAR FLOWER: MY LIFE AFTER IRAQ
Andria Williams: Brooke, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with Wrath-Bearing Tree. We are all excited to fe…
New Nonfiction from Brooke King: “Ghosts” and “The Only Stars I’ve Seen”
Ghosts The young Iraqi girl stared back at me, her face covered over in black; only her eyes shown out from under the…
New Nonfiction from Kiley Bense: Tell Me About My Boy
Here’s an empty grave, where a body that had been a boy became bones beneath a wooden cross. They buried him with one…
Memoir by Sari Fordham: “House Arrest in Thirteen Parts”
Part I: The House, circa 1977 The house in Uganda was red brick with a metal roof, a rusted water tank, and a screene…
An Interview with Helen Benedict, Author of WOLF SEASON
Helen Benedict is the author of seven novels, five books of nonfiction, and a play. Her most recent novel, WOLF SEASO…
Blood Money: C.E. Morgan’s ‘The Sport of Kings’
On May 17, 1875, under blue skies and wearing the flapping green-and-orange silks of his legendary employer J.P. McGr…