The Yellow Birds

Revue de presse Remarkable for its intensity of both feeling and expression. In this book about death, every line is a defiant assertion of the power of beauty to revivify, whether beauty shows itself in nature or (later) in art. Graves, Owen and Sassoon would have recognised this war and the strange poetry it has bred. (HILARY MANTEL, GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR) An extraordinary novel . . . remarkable . . . stands with Tim O'Brien's enduring Vietnam book, The Things They Carried, as a classic of contemporary war fiction . . . brilliantly observed and deeply affecting. (MICHIKO KAKUTANI, NEW YORK TIMES) A stunning achievement, visceral [and] poignant. (SUNDAY TIMES) A masterpiece ... a classic. (THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR) THE YELLOW BIRDS is a wonderful, powerful novel that moves and terrifies. (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY) Tautly written and unforgiving in its depiction of the human cost of war. (THE TIMES) I found in THE YELLOW BIRDS by Kevin Powers a vivid, poetic account of modern warfare. Powers joined the US Marines at 17, going on to serve as a machine gunner in Iraq, and each line bleeds hard-fought truths. (RICHARD GODWIN, EVENING STANDARD BOOKS OF THE YEAR) Powers has written a compassionate, poetic evocation of war and its legacy which has already been hailed as a classic of its genre. (SUNDAY EXPRESS, BOOKS OF THE YEAR) 'Harrowing, inexplicably beautiful, and utterly, urgently necessary.' (ANN PATCHETT, Orange Prizewinning author of Bel Canto and State of Wonder) 'Kevin Powers has conjured a poetic and devastating account of war's effect on the individual.' (DAMIAN LEWIS, star of Homeland and Band of Brothers) Extraordinarily well-written . . . brilliant . . . he's just a really, really beautiful writer . . . everyone will be reading it. (ALEX HEMINSLEY, BBC RADIO 2 ARTS SHOW) Reaffirms the power of fiction to tell the truth about the unspeakable ... a superb literary achievement. I urge everyone to read it. (CHRIS CLEAVE, author of The Other Hand and Gold) Written with an intensity which is deeply compelling. (COLM T?IB?N, author of Brooklyn and The Master) 'This is a novel I've been waiting for. THE YELLOW BIRDS is born from experience and rendered with compassion and intelligence. All of us owe Kevin Powers our heartfelt gratitude.' (ALICE SEBOLD, author of The Lovely Bones) . . . One of those books that knocks your perceptions into new alignment permanently. (BARBARA KINGSOLVER) 'THE YELLOW BIRDS is the All Quiet on the Western Front of America's Arab Wars.' (TOM WOLFE, author of The Bonfire of the Vanities) [Powers] has forged a harrowing, enormously powerful first novel . . . Powers' writing is also attentive to nature and landscape, and he manages to entertain contradictory notions of beauty and horror. Wasn't that Fitzgerald's definition of genius? (FINANCIAL TIMES) Kevin Powers' lyrical account of war's deep impact on the individual is an important addition to the tradition of American war fiction and perhaps the first great novel to emerge from the long, intractable conflicts in the Middle East. (JOHANNA THOMAS-CORR, LITERARY REVIEW) A stunning read . . . beautiful [and] devastating. (SIMON MAYO, BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB) Thus far the definitive novel of our long wars in the Middle East; this book is certain to be read and taught for generations to come. (PHILIPP MEYER author of American Rust) And then I heard this . . . an extraordinary novel - honest painful, poetic. Powers's exquisitely drawn portrait of three young soldiers struggling in their own way to make sense of their situation gives you the real human story. (GUARDIAN) Kevin Powers' poetic, grievously sad debut novel captures one young man's experience of the war in Iraq . . . Powers is clear-eyed and dolorous, observing the damage done, but alive to the beauty of the landscape, and the details that cement friendship in a world dominated by violence and fear. (MARIE CLAIRE) Page after page yields unforgettable images . . . unden