Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. How did Phil Klay's choice of first person narration affect your reading experience?
   


2. What did you think of his use of various, and quite different, narrators?
   


3. How did the lack of Iraqi voices in these stories add to or detract from your reading experience?
   


4. In what ways did knowing Klay is a former marine who served in Iraq inform your understanding of, and emotional connection to, these stories? How might your reading experience have been different if he had not served?
   


5. What do you think Phil Klay achieved by writing short stories instead of a novel?




Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Penguin Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.