Rating: 
Summary: Excellent first hand account
Review: Although some would say this book is a bad "coming of age" story, I chose to be open and soak it in. The author describes his life in the Marines, the close freindships that develop, and the many disappointments. What it does best is express the "dark side" of being an American marine. When the author is finally deployed to Iraq, it may not be what you expect. Readers looking for combat stories will find there are few. The one engagement has the author in position to snipe Iraqi targets, but he is not given permission. Instead the marines want "action", they want to move in and attack rather than snipe from afar (lives are lost because of this) A must read for anyone thinking of joining up. In my opinion Jarhead should have been titled, "Jarhead: Inside the mind of a Marine in the Gulf War"
Rating:
Summary: Jarhead
Review: Bluto, Otter and the Delta House gang go to the Desert to safeguard cowardly Kuwaitis and pump up the profits for "Big Oil". Why is it that the only "war" books that get rave reviews are anti-war screeds? Those with little or no exposure to the military should find this book interesting, to say the least, and perhaps frightening. You give a 19 year old man Marine training, immerse him in Marine culture, then send him to war with his buddies and you get a lot of behaviors that will shock your average civilian. The author is a good wordsmith and truly captures life in the Saudi desert during the long build up to the ground war. His dipiction of Marine life prior to the war is also very good. Not bad. Not great.
Rating: 
Summary: Honest and very well written (read)
Review: Consider the unabridged audio CD because the author reads it himself which for me added to the story immensely. Life thru the eyes of a grunt the book is brutally honest and powerful. As another reviewer stated I am going to look for more of the author's work. Really enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Apparently too honest for some....
Review: Great book, in my opinion.
Anthony Swofford's memoir of Desert Shield/Storm is, like most good memoirs, more about his own personal experience than about the historical view. This isn't a documentary-style Thunder Run or Black Hawk Down, but a personal account of growth and experience. In our present polarized political climate, I have to admire him for his honest, and, at times, brutally ugly description of himself and the people around him, be it in or out of uniform.
Some things the negative reviews miss:
The author isn't trying to represent the entire Marine Corps. He is writing about a pivotal life experience, and, just like if 5 people see them same movie, you'll get 5 different reviews from them, none of which will be `wrong'.
If you, as a serving or former Marine, don't like this book, then write your own, it's that simple. The book is about one man's subjective experience, not yours, so get over it. A lot of what gets called "lies" and "inaccuracies", like "marines don't act that way" etc is plain wrong. Some marines do, sorry. If you think that a group of people, ANY group, actually embodies 100% of all the lofty qualities they like to claim, then you're the one lying to yourself. Swofford obviously isn't exactly what Marine recruiters are looking for: emotionally, he's too sensitive and introspective. However, he managed to achieve a fairly elite status within the Corps; he Walked the Walk, he can write whatever the hell he wants.
As for this being "liberal propaganda", what with his comments about the oil industry and some our politicians' corporate connections, can you honestly say he's `inaccurate'?!
The connection between Big Oil and US foreign policy is well-documented. How you choose to interpret that is up to you.
Rating:
Summary: Great Gulf War Book
Review: I am very interested in War, and Special Forces, at the age of 15. Belive it or not, I am interested in Politics, and a very strong Republican. I have dreams of going to National Counter Terrorism University, in D.C., and then joining Delta Force for 5 years, and then the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI.Enough of me, this was a great read. It is a great descritpion of the war, and it was just what I was expecting. If you like this, I would also REALLY reccomend, Marine Sniper.
Rating:
Summary: Semper Fi Jarhead
Review: I handed this book around to Marines of different ages and eras, 8 out of 10 gave me the same reply, "I thought I was the only one who thought that way", Thanks Jarhead. I read a review of MOTO0331, First I was witness to the viewing of that movie, its not a "urban legend", it cut off Total Recall, I was acually kind of mad. Second, I remember taking a drink of water when the author went for his all night run,(I was in the group playing volleyball all night long) I was in the room next the Mr. Swofford that night and actually when I read this book it brought back a flood of memories,I will always remember that night very specifically, not every night you see a guy flip out over his wifes first porn movie. Thanks Jarhead
P.S. now my wife gets me, not sure yet if that's a good thing!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of Time
Review: I read a lot of books, especially History and in particular, books on War. I was so disappointed from the very beginning and kept thinking it would improve. Unfortunately, it just kept getting worse. Why did this guy enlist? All he did was complain the whole time about the Marines, his fellow Marines, his Family, the war, and the country and its leaders. I just read "Generation Kill" and would highly recommend it as a great "real" view of Marines in battle. I served in the Air Force and the Army, but if I were a Marine, I would not want this guy representing the proud members of the Corps. Basically, the book was boring.
Rating: 
Summary: UNFAITHFUL
Review: I read some wonderful reviews on this book and bought it with the intention of shipping it to an active-duty Marine in Iraq. Good thing I glanced through this before I sent it off. I have since returned it and am looking for something else to send. The book is very well written and entertaining, but aside from the deceptively smooth prose and rampant humor, it might be considered an insult to anyone who is actually proud of the Corps. Most of Swofford's self description and description of fellow Marines reduce them to reckless, cheating, drunken brutes with little sense of honor for the "traditions." What my boyfriend would call "the bad seeds." Now granted the stuff he mentioned does happen, and that there is this type of Marine out there, the healthier type of Marine is almost completely absent here. I guess it wouldn't be fun to write about the guy just doing his job with minimal drama. You know, the true Semper Fi guy who actually has morals and believes in the cause. So, while I won't refute those who extols the writer's stark honesty in relating his personal feelings of what it was like to be a Marine, I'd advice anyone reading this to keep in mind that it is what it says: ONE Marine's chronicle... So in conclusion, I give this a 4-5 on merits of craftmanship and 1-2 on representation of modern US Marines in totality.
Rating:
Summary: Overdone but largely authentic
Review: I served in Desert Storm, in the USMC infantry similar to Swofford. This is the first book on the subject that I could stand to read. Parts of it I hate because Swofford stole from fellow Marines (that makes him a scumbag more than a sniper) and he exagerrates (which means lies) a bit on the tales of drunken debauchery.
But . . . when he tones down a notch and writes about actual operations - he accounts ring very true and compelling. Further, I found a lot of his psychological insights and reflections on becoming a Marine very compelling. I felt like this book helped me verbalize my own very complex feelings about the war, our country, and manhood in our age. Swofford does capture the essence of serving in the Marine Corps in those years.
I recommend this book for Gulf War veterans and as a psychological history of this period.
Rating:
Summary: An OUTSTANDING view into Corps life
Review: I served in the Marines at roughly the same time as Swofford, although our "careers" took distinctly different paths. He was a STA-Platoon grunt with the 7th Marines, while I was a "pogue" (rear-echelon) armorer/ammo tech who did time with three separate units. Swofford was in the Gulf during Deserts Shield and Storm; the closest I got to the war was watching CNN in Southern California. At the time, I felt cheated and ashamed for being in the States - like I was left out of making history, and safe at home while other Marines were in harm's way. So, as soon as I heard about "Jarhead", I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. The Corps is a place where you rub shoulders with colorful individuals and see interesting places regardless of your job category, and Swofford's excellent story-telling skills took me back to that period with a sharp immediacy. This is a tribute to the author's writing style and no-holds-barred honesty, which are both exemplary. His descriptions of boot camp and the Fleet during that era are absolutely spot-on, and the extreme personalities he encountered are uncomfortably real archtypes of "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children." Of course, he shares a large number of lurid personal anecdotes, but that's the way things were (and probably still are) in the Corps. Indeed, Swofford does not sugarcoat the Corps as an institution, so don't expect an "ooh-rah" account of Marine Corps life. But he still finds humor in the midst of the headgames, while dealing with weightier philiosophical questions about the brutality of war. Anyone who was (or is) in the Corps's enlisted ranks will immediately identify with the author, regardless of their MOS. In addition, those seeking insight into the Marines who are currently fighting Saddam's legions will find "Jarhead" a compelling insider revelation. Swofford's story is not disrespectful to the Corps, but it is honest and real. He is to be commended for writing this important book.
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