Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green

Outrageous, hilarious, and absolutely candid,Blood Makes the Grass Grow Greenis Johnny Rico's firsthand account of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, a memoir that also reveals the universal truths about the madness of war. No one would have picked Johnny Rico for a soldier. The son of an aging hippie father, Johnny was overeducated and hostile to all authority. But when 9/11 happened, the twenty-six-year-old probation officer dropped everything to become an "infantry combat killer." But if he'd thought that serving his country would be the kind of authentic experience a reader ofThe Catcher in the Ryewould love, he quickly realized he had another thing coming. In Afghanistan he found himself living a Lord of the Flies existence among soldiers who feared civilian life more than they feared the Talibanguys like Private Cox, a musical prodigy busy "planning his future poverty," and Private Mulbeck, who didn't know precisely which country he was in. Life in a combat zone meant carnage and couragebut it also meant tedious hours standing guard, punctuated with thoughtful arguments about whether Bea Arthur was still alive. Utterly uncensored and full of dark wit,Blood Makes the Grass Grow Greenis a poignant, frightening, and heartfelt view of life in this and every man's army. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Johnny Rico is the author of Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green and works as a freelance writer for magazines such as GQ, Penthouse, and Men’s Journal. His assignments have seen him going undercover in the US Army’s CONUS Replacement Center, interviewing mercenaries in Nepal, and racing across the earth as part of the Mongol Rally. He lives in the United Kingdom.