Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

I have an idea that the best things in life break your heart the same time they make you smile. I hope you are lucky enough to have some friends you can tell stories like these with. If you talk to me long enough, you’ll know I am. When I find a book that gets this right, man, I can’t stop talking about it.

If you enjoy Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, it is not an easy book. The level of emotion is high. The most straightforward praise I could give this book when talking about it to a friend is that it seems like no sentence is wasted. Each one has a point and a place in the narrative. A lot of these entries are questions from the mind of the main character, Billy. When I saw questions on the page that I had myself, that most times I couldn’t really put into words, wow, this book really got me.

Billy is an Iraq vet who along with some of his fellow soldiers survived a brutal but ultimately victorious gunfight that was subsequently seen on the internet by most of America. Following the fight Billy and the other troops are sent across the Heartland on a “Victory Tour.” The book takes place on the last day of the trip where the boys are the guests of honor at Dallas Cowboys stadium. The catch is, they are on their way back to Iraq the next day.

The contradictions built by this scenario and the claustrophobic setting of a single day in the stadium are dizzying. I shook my head many times while reading, sometimes because I was impressed, others just to no let the stress of the whole thing get to me. But it’s Billy's thoughts, primarily questions, which act as anchors to the real heart of the book. He wonders openly about not so much the war but our culture and people’s behavior right on up to spirituality and life itself. The story flashes out a few times to his home life and his backstory. I read one of these chapters at a diner early in the morning, already nervous for a job interview, and found myself choking up as I put the book down and walked outside. I’m not kidding, I was stunned that it happened. I was not trying.

Talking honestly to someone who has served their country is hard. They’ve done something you likely have not and probably never will so anything you say falls short. When I’ve tried I’ve felt like a fool. This feeling might have contributed to the weight I felt in this book. Billy’s conversations with civilians are detailed, never sarcastically presented and often humorous. They feel authentic enough that I can’t imagine the author finding sources for them anywhere but in real life.

Parts of the book are hilarious, to me anyway, and some are depressing. Billy’s life exists on the edge of these two forces and he walks through the middle trying to make sense of it all. The pull between the opposites is what really drives the book.

Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders play a role, as do living Pop Culture figures and yes, a Jerry Jones character, too. The timeliness of the story is really amazing. I’m not sure if I would suggest it to people who have served since really, I don’t want to assume anything about their experience. In the end the book is equally about our lives inside American Culture as it is Billy’s in the Army.

This is not to say Billy is sitting on the edge of a mountain in silent contemplation. He and his fellow soldiers are rushed through one strange scene after another and there is plenty of mayhem. I should hold back a bit, but there is even romance. Sort of. And a little bit of Hollywood, too.

Billy Lynn is Author Ben Fountain’s first novel after a collection of short stories. He started writing in his early thirties, quit a successful career in law and counted on the support of a loving wife until his efforts found some level of success. If that’s what it takes to get us to a book like this, thanks to both of them.

I’ve told friends that I am going to read this book again immediately. That is definitely not something I have done in the past. I feel like I need to in order to really get how I feel about it in line. If you the book is on your list then I’ll just slap you on the back, wish you luck and hope that’s enough.