I regret ever listening to Phil Klay’s 2022 collection of essays Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War–I should have read it instead. As I listened to his 20 essays (divided into 4 sections: Soldiers, Citizen, Writing, and Faith) driving back and forth from the Licola suburbs to the U.S. Naval Base at Capodichino, I muttered countless complaints that there’s no way to take notes or make highlights in the Libby or Audible app! If I’d had a paperback version its margins would be scribbled with notes, quotes, and highlights…and this review would be a much stronger one.
For the uninitiated, Phil Klay is part of a slim company of writers (e.g., Ben Fountain, Atticus Lish, Roxana Robinson, Nate Fick, Andrew Exum, Gavin Kovite, Christopher Robinson, Elliot Ackerman) who grapple with America’s invisible conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and places most Americans don’t even realize we’re fighting. When I read his two earlier novels, Redeployment and Missionaries, I remember thinking every American needs to read these books. My hope being that his stories might wear away the calluses of an American public largely ignorant of the military service members’ sacrifices and scars. I observed that reading Redeployment could serve as a cathartic communion of sorts for the reader, a chance for those who haven't served to break bread with those who have sacrificed so much.
As I read Uncertain Ground, however, I continuously thought every service member needs to read this book. Klay’s essays focus on yes, what it means to serve, but more so what it means to be an American citizen. Quick note: It's to Klay’s credit that the author makes it quite clear that he never saw combat as a Marine Corps public affairs officer–he must have mentioned this fact some twenty times in the book. Countless other service members obfuscate their historical service leaving the public to guess or infer the nature of it. Klay’s clarity lends credibility to his writing as he is at times a marine once removed, an outsider listening and digesting all of his fellow marines’ combat trauma to shake the military reader awake to her responsibilities to be an active citizen engaged in the political process. One point he made that struck me, in particular, was the way he highlighted the knee-jerk military reaction that devalues anyone’s opinion on war who hasn’t served. I’m guilty of this. Klay makes a strong argument that the constitutional call for every American is to grapple with and hold our legislative and executive branches accountable for the lives of our soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
This is a book that I’ll order a paper copy of–I’d like the chance to read it again and mark it up, and discuss it with colleagues. He shares so many phenomenal insights (e.g., his approach to writing, his Catholic faith), that I want to be sure to capture them to refer to in future writing and conversations.
My 2015 review of Redeployment is here.
My 2021 review of Missionaries is here.
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