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WORK TITLE: Civilianized
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1986
WEBSITE: http://masscasualties.com/
CITY: Boston
STATE: MA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://zestbooks.net/civilianized/ * http://masscasualties.com/about/ *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1986; married; children: one daughter.
EDUCATION:Bridgewater State University, B.A.; Lesley University, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, journalist, and public speaker. Guest on media programs.
MIILITARY:U.S. Army Reserve, c. 2003-09, including active duty as operating room technician in Iraq.
AVOCATIONS:Volunteer work with veteran charities, playing basketball.
WRITINGS
Work represented in anthologies. Feature writer and editor of “War and Veterans” section, Good Men Project.
SIDELIGHTS
Michael Anthony was a teenager when he convinced his parents to allow him to enlist in the U.S. Army Reserve. After a twelve-month deployment as an operating room medic in Iraq, he came home as a new adult who had seen too much, too soon. Anthony was raised in a family with a strong military tradition, so he headed off to the Middle East with an attitude of pride and patriotism. He had no way of knowing what he would face. Not even the dire warnings of his drill sergeant in basic training could prepare him for service in a medical unit in a theater of war.
Anthony was fortunate enough to escape physical injuries of the type he had to treat in others as a medic, but he did not return unchanged. His eyes had been opened, and he wanted to open the eyes of other young recruits before they made a decision that could change their lives forever.
Mass Casualties
While working on a bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Bridgewater State University, Anthony was already completing his first book, Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq. While the book is more memoir than exposé, Anthony does not turn away from the ugly side of life at the front. His buddies play board games, make jokes, and have sex, but they also tend to soldiers on the brink of death and survivors who will be scarred for life. One of Anthony’s fellow soldiers is an easygoing storyteller; another is an opportunist and a bully. “Nobody wants to be there,” as Don Emmerich reminded readers in his review of Mass Casualties at Socratific, and no one returns unchanged.
“I wanted to … give a full picture of the war,” Anthony observed in an interview posted on the Web site As the Pages Turn, “so there can be some real understanding for our returning veterans.” Emmerich commended Anthony for reinforcing the lesson that combat duty is “a situation that the human psyche is simply not equipped to handle.” Anthony earned the gratitude of many veterans and their family members, but he wanted to do more.
Civilianized
Anthony went on to a career in journalism. He became an advocate for veterans’ issues and a volunteer with veterans’ charities, but his biggest battle lay ahead. This is the story he tells in Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir.
Anthony returned from war angry and adrift. He couldn’t remember how to form relationships and couldn’t abide the loneliness. He sought relief in alcohol, prescription medications, hypnosis, and one self-help program after another. Nothing worked. After three months of torment he was ready to kill himself. In his interview for As the Pages Turn, Anthony informed readers: “If we look at the statistics for returning veterans, we see suicide rates that are higher [than] the amount of soldiers killed or injured in Iraq and Afghanistan—combined!” Anthony is neither hawk nor dove when it comes to military action, but, he stated in his interview, he wants readers to know “why so many veterans are coming home with PTSD and killing themselves.”
Anthony attributes his own salvation to Shakespeare, specifically to a copy of Henry V. He began to write, and the outlet of creative expression enabled him to piece together the fragments of his life that war had torn apart. Frank Tempone reported in Booklist: “Civilianized has the introspection of a literary memoir and the narrative momentum of a novel.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews called it an “at-times darkly comic memoir” that “serves as an important reminder of the human cost of America’s involvement in overseas conflicts.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Anthony, Michael, Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq, Adams Media (Avon, MA), 2009.
Anthony, Michael, Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir, Zest Books (San Francisco, CA), 2016.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 1, 2016, Frank Tempone, review of Civilianized, p. 10.
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2016, review of Civilianized.
ONLINE
As the Pages Turn, http://asthepagesturn.wordpress. com/ (December 1, 2009), author interview.
Michael Anthony Home Page, http://www.masscasualties.com (July 11, 2017).
Socratific, http://donemmerich.blogspot.com (October 29, 2009), Don Emmerich, review of Mass Casualties.*
Michael Anthony is the author of "Civilianized: A Young Veteran's Memoir," (Zest books) and Mass Casualties (Adams Media). A former US soldier, he holds and MFA in creative writing from Lesley University and has written for the Washington Post blog, Business Insider blog, among others, and spent a year as the War & Veterans editor for the Good Men Project blog.
Michael lives with his wife and daughter in Massachusetts. He spends his free time with his family and volunteering for veteran charities.
www.MassCasualties.com
Michael Anthony was born in Massachusetts, in 1986. He grew up south of Boston, earned a BA in English Literature at Bridgewater State University, and an MFA in Creative Writing at Lesley University. He spent six years in the army reserves, with a sixteen month deployment, and twelve months in Iraq, where he served as an operating room technician.
His first published book was a memoir detailing his service in Iraq. Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and wide praise from veterans.
Michael’s writings have appeared in numerous books, from children’s to poetry/non-fiction anthologies. He has written for the Washington Post blog, Business Insider blog, as well as several other publications across the web, including a year-long stint as a feature writer and editor of the War and Veterans section for the Good Men Project blog.
In addition to his writings, Michael has appeared on a TV show for the Weather Channel, several documentaries—ranging from veterans issues to issues of mortality—and through a joke gone astray (somewhat), he’s even managed to become a mini-viral hit on YouTube. He is also a professional public speaker.
by admin | December 1, 2009 · 5:09 pm
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Interview with Michael Anthony, author of “Mass Casualties”
About the Author
Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born. The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of whom joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military.
After graduating high school, he joined the Army Reserves, went through basic training, and then went through job training to become an Operating Room Medic. One year later he returned home and enrolled in college to begin his first semester. Almost immediately upon finishing his first semester he was shipped off to Wisconsin to train for four months before he would leave and spend his next year in Iraq. Michael is now back in the States and working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in creative writing.
You can visit his website at www.masscasualties.com
The Interview
Q: Thank you for this interview, Michael. Can you tell us what your latest book, Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception and Dishonor in Iraq, is all about?
A: Mass Casualties, is about what really goes on during a war. If you look at the stories being told and the movies being made, there is this image being painted of this romanticized heroic ideal of the American Soldier, which is great. But <
The book is neither pro or anti war; it’s totally non-political; instead it’s a look at what really goes on behind the scenes. It’s the true stories explaining <
Q: Is this your first novel? If not, how has writing this novel different from writing your first?
A: This is my first novel.
Q: How difficult was it writing your book? Did you ever experience writer’s block and, if so, what did you do?
A: I never really experienced writers block. One of the worst parts of war is you can never forget, no matter how hard you try. All I simply had to do was close my eyes and type/write what I saw.
Q: How have your fans embraced your latest novel? Do you have any funny or unusual experiences to share?
A: Yes the fans have embraced it, I get emails all the time from old vets saying this is the most accurate war story, or from parents of soldiers who fought, and want to know why their son/daughter came home and tried to hurt themselves or turned to drugs.
Well, there was this one funny story. I received an email one day that was really stalker-ish: “Your book is so great, I felt like you were writing it just for me, like we’re kindred souls and made for each other.” I got the email and was really flattered, my first stalker. At first I didn’t know what to write back, I was afraid to say the wrong thing or else I’d lose them as my stalker, so I sent back this really long stalker-ish email about how they were right and that I wrote the story just for them, we were meant to be.” Weirdest thing happened though; I never got an email back. I then do what any normal person would do…I track down the person who sent the email and find out where they live. I went to their house and spied on them…and you’ll never believe it, but I saw them reading a different authors book! I then sent them another email: “I saw you last night…reading a Dan Brown book…so is this what you do…you send authors emails alluring to stalking them…and then you do nothing…you break their hearts and move on to your next author…”
Just kidding…I wish I had a great story, my fan-mail is all kind of sad—since I’m dealing with such a grave undertone, but uplifting at the same time, I do have people telling me that the book has given them a cause to fight for!
Q: What is your daily writing routine?
A: No routine, I’m just always writing. I’m in school for writing as well, so I’m either at the computer working on the next book, or working on some papers for my college classes.
Q: When you put the pen or mouse down, what do you do to relax?
A: Watch Seinfeld reruns or play basketball.
Q: What book changed your life?
A: I’ll take two books, and one author. Atlas Shrugged, and Fountainhead, both by: Ayn Rand. Her writing style is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and not only does she write brilliant novels, she gets so much meaning across through her words, without directly saying anything.
Q: If someone were to write a book on your life, what would the title be?
A: Demolecularizing Mike. I chose that because I would want everything told, I think there are too many biographies out there, that paint such a stupid one dimensional picture of people, I would want every part of my life broken down, every stupid decision told, every journal entry exposed.
Q: Finish this sentence: “The one thing that I wish people would understand about me is…”
A: In Mass Casualties, I gave them more truth than they’ll want. If ignorance is bliss, than the truth is a bitch.
Thank you for this interview Michael Anthony. I wish you much success on your latest release, Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception and Dishonor in Iraq!
About Mass Casualties
“Look around,” the drill sergeant said. “In a few years, or even a few months, several of you will be dead. Some of you will be severely wounded or so badly mutilated that your own mother can’t stand the sight of you. And for the real unlucky ones, you will come home so emotionally disfigured that you wish you had died over there.”
It was Week 7 of basic training . . . eighteen years old and I was preparing myself to die.
They say the Army makes a man out of you, but for eighteen-year-old SPC Michael Anthony, this fabled rite of passage is instead a dark and dangerous journey. After obtaining his parents’ approval to enlist at seventeen, Anthony begins this journey with an unshakeable faith in the military based on his family’s long tradition of service. But when he finds himself in a medical unit of misfits as lost as he is, Anthony not only witnesses firsthand the unspeakable horror of war, he experiences the undeniable misconduct of the military. Everything he’s ever believed in dissolves, forcing Anthony to rethink his ideals and ultimately risk his career—and his freedom—to challenge the military that once commanded his loyalty.
This searing memoir chronicles the experiences that change one young soldier forever. A seasoned veteran before the age of twenty-one, he faces the truth about the war—and himself—in this shocking and unprecedented eyewitness account.
Here’s what reviewers have to say!
“Michael Anthony’s memoir is not about the politics of Iraq. Instead it takes us deep inside the war, inside and outside the operating room, the barracks, the talk of the soldiers, the feeling of the situation. It joins the body of war literature in a unique and powerful way.”
—Howard Zinn, Civil Rights Leader, Historian
Author of: A People’s History of the United States
“Anthony’s painful account of his time at war is at times difficult to read. This coming of age war memoir details the very gut wrenching journey he takes into manhood in the backdrop of grueling combat. His voice is unique and deserves to be heard. We may not all agree with why we fight, but I am proud to be of a generation with Warriors like Anthony, who are compelled to share these important life altering experiences.”
—David Bellavia, Iraq Veteran
Author of: House to House: An Epic Memoir of War
Civilianized: A Young Veteran's Memoir
Frank Tempone
113.7 (Dec. 1, 2016): p10.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Civilianized: A Young Veteran's Memoir. By Michael Anthony. Dec. 2016.192p. Zest/Pulp, $16.99 (9781936976881). 818.
On his website, masscasualties.com, Anthony speculates about why he turned to artistic expression to deal with the memories of war, "sometimes we need to go through those hurricanes and rainstorms to see and appreciate the sun." Anthony's second memoir, following the highly regarded Mass Casualties (2009), negotiates this turbulent climate again in a lively, accessible narrative that may remind some of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (1990). Anthony, a six-year army reservist, served a 16-month deployment as an operating room technician, during which he "cauterized wounds, sutured skin, and sawed through limbs." Here he dissects his first months back from war and a pact he made with himself, that he would attempt reintegration for three months, then kill himself. Anthony describes stepping through a minefield of what he calls "unexpected intimacy." He finds himself thrown together with men seeking the secret to meeting women, other veterans stumbling through their own traumas, and women attempting to maintain relationships with Anthony despite his explosive anger. <
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Tempone, Frank. "Civilianized: A Young Veteran's Memoir." Booklist, 1 Dec. 2016, p. 10. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA474716773&it=r&asid=79eb6c28730402ef0e9c46f1cae3821b. Accessed 21 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A474716773
Michael Anthony: CIVILIANIZED
(Oct. 1, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Michael Anthony CIVILIANIZED Pulp/Zest Books (Adult Nonfiction) 16.99 ISBN: 978-1-936976-88-1
A young war veteran tells the story of how his tour in Iraq left him unable to cope with day-to-day civilian life.For Anthony (Mass Casualties: A Young Medic's True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq, 2009, etc.), life as a soldier in the U.S. Army had its perks. The rush from constant, near-death experiences was like no other, he writes. But it also had a pronounced dark side. Days flowed together into a never-ending sameness that made remembering events difficult, and physically overtaxed soldiers, including Anthony, lived on prescribed pain medication. When the author returned to San Diego from his tour, he realized that he was addicted to painkillers and sleeping pills and that it had been two years since Id even kissed a woman. Lonely and miserable, Anthony decided that if his life did not improve in three months, he would kill himself. He began his quest for happiness by signing up for a three-day self-improvement course on how to attract women. Yet all he could manage were brief encounters that did nothing to save him from the emptiness he felt inside. Anthony then moved home to Massachusetts, where he joined a group of men who gathered together to pick up women. There, he met a fellow vet named Gunner, whose rage and addictions mirrored the authors and who would eventually attempt suicide. Anthony continued to stumble through his days and relationships, desperately searching for relief in alcohol, hypnosis, and PTSD groups for war veterans. He finally decided to kill himself by overdosing on Ambien. Catching sight of a copy of Shakespeares Henry V, however, he decided to write his story, an act that saved him from self-destruction and began to bring him back to life. Though the text moves to a conclusion that only outlines the recovery phase of his life, this <
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Michael Anthony: CIVILIANIZED." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA465181798&it=r&asid=127534959b47f99b6ad9361b262b97b0. Accessed 21 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A465181798
October 29, 2009
Book Review: ‘Mass Casualties’
Anyone thinking about going into the military would do well to read Specialist Michael Anthony’s memoir, Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq. While the title might suggest that this is the work of some renegade peacenik, another soldier-turned-antiwar-activist, Anthony in fact seems proud of his military service, and he never criticizes the US mission in Iraq. Not that any of that matters. Mass Casualties isn’t about the politics of war. It’s simply what it claims to be, a memoir, one soldier’s remembrance of his time in Iraq.
A natural storyteller, Anthony populates his book with memorable characters, some loveable, some not so loveable. There’s Denti, a fellow operating room medic. “Denti’s always been a storyteller, and I quickly learned to never believe anything he says, including the fact that he was a pimp, a drug dealer, gang member, and a weightlifting power-lifter—he says he only joined the Army because he wanted to get away from the hectic lifestyle.” There’s also Gagney, the staff sergeant in charge of the operating room who’s not exactly the world’s most gracious loser. “Then a month ago Gagney, Reto, Denti, and I were playing Risk, a game of global domination. I had an alliance with Reto, and we attacked Gagney’s armies. Gagney flipped out, knocked the game board over, called us all ‘fucking idiot cheaters,’ and stormed off.”
One can’t read Mass Casualties without at some point being reminded of M*A*S*H. People are often joking around. People are often—okay, usually—okay, almost always—having sex—lots and lots of sex. But, more to the point, <
The more we read, the more we realize that the practical jokes and adulterous escapades are really just a desperate attempt to create some sense of normalcy. But, of course, normalcy can’t be created in the hellishness of war. No matter how hard Anthony and his cohorts try to escape the horrors of their present reality, there they find themselves, operating on a soldier who’s just had his face blown off, running into a bunker as mortar rockets rain down from the sky. “When I close my eyes,” Anthony writes, “I dream of death and war. When I open my eyes I see death and war. I blink and as my eyes close I see images of death, and as they flutter open I see death—there is no escaping it.”
Many who went to Iraq undoubtedly had it worse than Anthony. Indeed, his experience appears to have been a relatively good one. (Let me stress the word relatively.) And this is precisely why those wanting to join the military should read Mass Casualties. Because, as Anthony so masterfully illustrates, war thrusts all of its participants, even those who don’t end up getting shot full of holes, into <>
Contrary to what most eighteen-year-olds think, war isn’t like a game of Halo. It’s certainly nothing like the latest Army recruitment video. And to make matters worse, the military is largely run by a bunch of self-absorbed, even sadistic, people who don’t seem to give a damn about those serving under them. At one point, Anthony describes how a colonel postpones treating a severely wounded soldier so he can finish attending an awards ceremony. Another time, the unit’s officers refuse to send a suicidal soldier away to receive the care he needs, fearing that doing so might make them look bad.
Yes, the military might “make you a man,” that is, if you come back alive. But, as Mass Casualties demonstrates, as the record number of soldiers returning home with drug and alcohol addictions, with brain damage, with PTSD and other mental disorders further demonstrates, it’s also likely to destroy you.
Update, 11/25/09: You can read my interview of Michael Anthony here.