Where Men Win Glory Review
Pat Tillman was the professional football player turned soldier who was killed fighting in Afghanistan in 2004. The story itself was shocking and awe-inspiring; it had a hypnotic effect on the American public. It showed the United States at its best, as well as at its worst, caught in a war that polarized the nation. So undoubtedly, When Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman had the makings for a best-seller.
The basic facts of the Tillman story are inspiring to all that know it. He walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army. He joined the Army Rangers – an elite unit – and was killed in April of 2004, in a canyon in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the story takes a turn for the worse at that point. Army commanders and Bush administration officials omitted the fact that he’d accidently been killed by men in his own division. Tillman was portrayed as a hero who died fighting the enemy; and officials even fed the phony account to the grieving Tillman family. The truth, however, came out later.
The books author, Jon Karakauer, has now told the full story. Being that the story is so riveting and that Krakaur is a notable writer, it should be a good read. Unfortunately, Krakaur fails to fashion it into such.
One major problem with the book is that all the drama – Pat Tillman’s death and the cover-up that ensued – are saved for the very end. The rest of the book covers Tillman’s life before enlistment and the progression of the war in Afghanistan. The chapters are dedicated in an every-other-one fashion. Thus, the reader cycles through boredom and interest.
That’s not to say that the civil war in Afghanistan and its transgressions against human rights isn’t interesting. Or that Pat Tillman’s life was boring. Both evolutions are startling and thought-provoking. The war’s history spans back to the 1970s and involves numerous other countries and major players (which gets confusing at times.) And Tillman was a man of character and principle; the sketch of him though is not enough to draw the reader into the moments that are on the way.
Overall, Krakaur could have done better with his writing. Why not delve more in-depth into those last 100 pages and figure out who gave to orders to cover up Tillman’s death? Though Tillman’s story does not lose any of it’s inspiring qualities on account of Krakaur’s horrible delivery, it definitely changes the level of interest in the story from curiousity to boredom.