About book I Love A Man In Uniform: A Memoir Of Love, War, And Other Battles (2009)
I had previously read "Strip City" and first read "I Love a Man..." about 2 years ago. This was my 2nd read. I think I enjoyed it slightly less then 2nd time, but it's still a good read.What happens when a former stripper/punk rock writer marries a military man? The results are not always pretty, especially when you add in post-war PTSD for the guy and clinical depression for the gal.Lily Burana has a forthright and snappy writing style and I found her candid memoir to be refreshing. There are other military wives out there who are penning books and blogs, but likely none as colorful as Burana. No, she's not your typical Army wife. She isn't arranging potlucks, she isn't always towing the line, but I bet there are a lot more military wives and moms who feel as she does - out in left field - than would admit it.I understand some of the previous reviewers who felt that the book seemed self-involved - it is. But that isn't a negative. Burana isn't writing a how-to guide for those about to marry into the Military. She's a writer and former memoirist who simply wrote a book about her personal experiences knowing that she fell into a depressive hole and nearly lost her marriage and writes forthrightly about that experience. And she ends the book with writing about the steps she has since taken the repair her marriage, fix her standing in her community and found her unique way of helping other military wives. Kudos to her. This book was a joke. Ms. Burana does NOT represent the Army wife community in any aspect. Well, maybe the fact she was a former stripper, as some Army wives are. The similarities stop there. While her experiences are... Interesting, there is not a shred of "typical" anywhere in them. She marries an officer, has no children, yet still manages to whine about being "so depressed " about living in strange places and not fitting in. The whole time I read this book I wanted to take it and pound someone over the head with it. As an Army wife myself I wanted to tell Ms. Burana to try being an enlisted wife, on a small income, with five kids to feed and clothe and take care of alone while your husband deploys over and over and over, instead of the pitiful one deployment her husband had- where he mainly stayed on the FOB. Her selfishness that resulted in the separation from her husband turned my stomach. The next time someone puts out a book on what it's like to be an Army wife, please do not use an author who is such a whiny, selfish woman with almost zero responsibility. We have special names for these kinds of wives. And none of them are good.
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An interesting read that provides some great insights about the Army and West Point.
—jacy
