When Lieutenant Matt Gallagher began his blog with the aim of keeping his family and friends apprised of his experiences, he didn't anticipate that it would resonate far beyond his intended audience. His subjects ranged from mission details to immortality, grim stories about Bon Jovi cassettes mistaken for IEDs, and the daily experiences of the Gravediggers-the code name for members of Gallagher's platoon. When the blog was shut down in June 2008 by the U.S. Army, there were more than twentyfive congressional inquiries regarding the matter as well as reports through the military grapevine that many high-ranking officials and officers at the Pentagon were disappointed that the blog had been ordered closed.Based on Gallagher's extraordinarily popular blog, Kaboom is "at turns hilarious, maddening, and terrifying," providing "raw and insightful snapshots of a conflict many Americans have lost interest in" ( Washington Post ). Like Anthony Swofford's Jarhead , Gallagher's Kaboom resonates with stoic detachment and timeless insight into a war that we are still trying to understand. New York Journal of Books , 8/20/10 “A first-person account of life where the IED hits the road. Gallagher’s first command—a scout platoon—is a classic picture of soldiers drawn straight from the American underclass…They are flawlessly presented as the Joes of the Iraq and Afghan wars…Gallagher’s men are rich in irony and political incorrectness.” Washington Post, 8/28/10 “[A] half comic, half heart-breaking hour-by-hour account.” Winston-Salem Journal “Gallagher is the voice of this war.”   Officer , 10/10 “Readable, often humorous…Convey[s] a sense of what the tip of the spear Soldier and his company grade leaders experienced on an Iraq deployment…For anyone wishing to get a genuine feel for recent deployment experiences of today’s Army company grade officer, this book will go a long way in delivering a realistic and candid view…Get a copy and put it on your reading list.”   Reno Gazette-Journal , 10/10/10 “[A] gritty memoir about modern warfare in the Mideast.”   The Old Gold and Black (Wake Forest University), 10/18/10 Entertainment Weekly , 4/30/10 “as funny as it is harrowing.” InternetReviewofBooks.com, April 2010 “[Gallagher] proves himself a gifted writer in this boots-on-the-ground report, with some of his prose echoing the scattershot riffs of Dylan without the guitar…[His] analysis of his situation, his troopers, the rear echelon, the high command, the profiteers, and the Iraqis (friend and foe) is insightful and candid...Gallagher simply gives a platoon leader’s perspective of an ugly war that has cost our nation so much in so many ways. Perhaps it is best to think of the young lieutenant’s memoir as one more paving stone for the road toward a fair historical assessment that our grandchildren may appreciate.” Galveston Daily News , 4/18/10 “While the opening of the book borrows heavily from the blog, it doesn’t simply regurgitate his blog postings. Gallagher adds material that puts his experiences in context and rewrote much of the rest. Unchanged is what made the blog so delightful—the irreverence of his words and the immediacy of what he experienced... Kaboom offers an intimate and poignant look at the rough men willing to do violence so good people can sleep peacefully in their beds—during a period that tested those men to their limits. It is well worth reading.” Library Journal , 4/1/10 “[Gallagher’s] exceptional narrative technique makes the soldier in-group cant both believable and coherent; his relentless pursuit of sanity in the midst of a chaotic storm of IEDs, policy changes, sheiks, civilians, and baffling missions makes this blog-based memoir an exciting read reminiscent of Anthony Swofford’s Jarhead .” Zink magazine, April 2010 “ Kaboom is nothing short of purely honest, unabashedly descriptive and unexpectedly humorous.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch , 4/4/10 “An oddly fascinating account of the high points (and low points) of Gallagher’s 15-month deployment… Kaboom will generate strong responses from readers.” “Gallagher is a phenomenal writer…He is so real in his writing. He does not hold back, which is why his story is so appealing. We want the truth, and Gallagher gives us nothing but…This war story is as real as you can get. Welcome to the history books Lieutenant.”   Nancy Pearl (via Twitter), 6/27/10 “Matt Gallagher's Kaboom —ironic, visceral, based on his well known blog about his experiences as an army lieutenant in Iraq.”   “ Talk of the Town” (WTVF), 6/1/10 “If you want the inside soldier’s view of the most recent Iraq War, read this first person account of Gallagher’s 15 month deployment.”   Winston-Salem Journal , 7/25/10 “Gallagher is the voice of this war.”   Collected Miscellany, 6/15/10 “Gallagher does an excellent job of portraying the daily grind of counterinsurgency warfare…[His] writing styl