Get Your War On II
by David Rees
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Book Summary Information
Author: David ReesEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-07
ISBN: 1594480486
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Book Reviews of Get Your War On II
Book Review: A merciless mockery of post-9/11 America
Summary: 5 Stars
After completing a tour of duty in Afghanistan, I read David Rees' "Get Your War On" and was not overly impressed; I wrote a decidedly unenthusiastic review of the book. I read that book's follow-up, "Get Your War On II" about two years later, after completing a tour in Iraq. Either Rees' writing has gotten sharper, or I just became more receptive to his work, because I think that GYWO2 is brilliant. This book of cartoons maintains the general format and style of its predecessor, and also follows up on the original's subject matter. The cartoons generally depict a bunch of anonymous white-collar office drones who discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other topics from early 21st-century headlines.
Rees has crafted a richly ironic volume of political satire that is full of profanity and scathing dialogue. Nobody is safe--along the way his nameless characters mock George Bush, Tony Blair, Halliburton, Fox News, Fidel Castro, Condoleezza Rice, Joe Lieberman, _The New York Times_, Ahmad Chalabi, Tom Daschle, North Korea, Pat Robertson, Ted Koppel, and many other entities. Rees covers many topics: gang rape, abortion, genocide, anthrax mailings, the search for WMDs in Iraq, political saber-rattling over steroid abuse, the 9/11 commission, the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, proposed designs for the new World Trade Center, and more. Adding to the pungent flavor of the book are the characters' many absurd pop culture references--Paris Hilton, 2 Live Crew, _Tiger Beat_, _The Family Circus_, etc. It's all made even funnier by the generally bland appearances of Rees' characters.
Rees is at his best when he is deconstructing and reshaping the jargon and catchphrases of the post-9/11 U.S.: "Axis of Evil," "Coalition of the Willing," "Freedom Fries," and many more. He offers a lacerating meditation on the use of language as a propaganda tool. His characters exchange some harsh and thought-provoking comments on language--I love it when one drone chides another, "Parsed much?" Although most of the characters are his typical anonymous office workers, this book also features "Uzbekikitty," an absurd yet tragic metaphor for U.S. coalition building in the War on Terror. At times Rees also plays with and mocks his own format. Among his routines in the book is a series of biting knock-knock jokes.
Despite the humor of the book, I consider it a serious interrogation of the language, icons, orthodoxies, and pieties of the post-9/11 era. Rees doesn't just slaughter America's sacred cows--he drops a nuclear bomb on them. GYWO2 could serve as a scalding counterbalance to the many inspirational and heroic narratives that have been spun from the Global War on Terror. For a great companion text I recommend "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq," by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber.
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