Musalaheen by Jason Arment

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Musalaheen
by Jason Arment
Publication Date: September 11, 2018
Trade Paper; 402 pages; 5-1/4" x 8"
ISBN 978-1-938753-30-5
WAR MEMOIR

Back Cover Copy for Musalaheen

“Musalaheen! Musalaheen!” The child cried twice before turning to run back inside. He peered at me from behind the doorjamb.

I stood stunned for a moment, arm extended in front of me. I looked at the glove on my hand, blackened from sewage and dirt, torn apart by razor wire and rocks. I realized, if I were him, I wouldn’t shake my hand either.

Musalaheen is the Arabic word for gunslinger. Jason Arment, serving as a Machine Gunner in the United States Marine Corps during Operation Iraqi Freedom, is both gunman and witness in this memoir. Musalaheen is a chronicle of boots on the ground in an occupied land and Arment unflinchingly offers the reader a window into their own complicity in genocidal empire building.

Praise for Musalaheen 

“Arment’s unyielding cadence is candid and addictive. Musalaheen illuminates the human costs of endless war recounted by an important, rising literary voice—and everyone should read it.” —Dorothy Bendel, Managing Editor of Atticus Review

“… a highly compelling narrative, packed with sharply observed, surreal details and a gift for capturing the in-the-moment fears, hopes, and daydreams of the average Marine.” —Phil Klay, author of Redeployment

“In the tradition of the warrior as witness, Arment writes down things we don’t want to know. We cannot bear to see. We cannot look away. Read this memoir and vote.” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“Narrated with raw and unwavering grit, Musalaheen blurs the distinction between the heroes and the terrorists, the innocent and the condemned, the ‘us’ and the ‘them.’ Jason Arment is a masterful storyteller whose stunning debut memoir will haunt you eternally.” —Melissa Grunow, author of Realizing River City and I Don’t Belong Here

“… Jason Arment spares no one in the interlocking episodes of this shocking war memoir—least of all himself. Musalaheen should be required reading for any president who contemplates committing idealistic young Americans to another ‘war of choice.’” —Paul Guernsey, author of American Ghost

“Musalaheen is a page-turner that will leave the reader with a lump in their throat. It’s also a reminder that the war in Iraq hasn’t ended but inhabits in every veteran who returns stateside.” —Daniel McGinn, author of The Moon, My Lover, My Mother & the Dog

“This writing is so good it hurts.” —Zack Kopp, Managing Editor of Doggerel, Founding Editor of Magic Trash Press