Soldier of the Year
by Jose Zuniga
List Price:
Our Price: $10.00
You Save: $2.00 (17%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.06 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jose ZunigaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1995-06-01
ISBN: 0671888153
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Pocket
Book Reviews of Soldier of the Year
Book Review: A flawed but fascinating military memoir
Summary: 4 Stars
"Soldier of the Year," by Jose Zuniga, is the memoir of a United States Army soldier who was discharged after publicly announcing he was gay. Zuniga was a decorated veteran of the Persian Gulf War who had attained the rank of sergeant. The title alludes to a significant military honor bestowed upon him: being named Sixth U.S. Army Soldier of the Year in 1993. This memoir covers his life from his birth in 1969 to the end of his military career in 1993.
Zuniga's story is consistently interesting and compelling. But I found the writing style often irritating and distracting. The whole thing has a self-absorbed, adolescent flavor to it (understandable, perhaps, when one considers that the author was only 25 years old when the book was published). The prose is at times sickeningly flowery, at times annoyingly bombastic. He seems to be trying too hard to sound either learned or clever (such as when he calls a group of military personnel a "coven of courtesans"). Sometimes he just sounds bitter and childish (as when he mocks Senator Strom Thurmond's hair). The stylistic flaws of the book are particularly regrettable because they detract from the many important issues he raises.
Zuniga discusses his combat zone service as both a military journalist and a medic. He also covers his stateside tours of duty. He paints an often searing portrait of a gay soldier's closeted life. One of the most fascinating sections of the book involves the question as to whether or not he improperly wore an Army award ribbon on his uniform during a public appearance; this material, including a fascinating appendix to the main text, gives readers a glimpse into the practical inner workings of the Army. Also significant is Zuniga's account of his public activism and his own evolving relationship with the larger lesbian and gay community.
Along the way, Zuniga cites a number of other American military personnel who have publicly challenged the ban against gay people serving openly. He also cites Randy Shilts' monumental history of gays in the military, "Conduct Unbecoming." Despite the book's flaws, I consider it a valuable document in the significant body of works that deal with the controversial issue of gays in the military. For a military "coming out" memoir by a much more seasoned soldier, I recommend "Serving in Silence," by Margarethe Cammermeyer.
Biographies & Memoirs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Gay (male) Spanish Items
I Love You BabyRelease date: 2003-08-26; DVD
Best price: $7.41
Price in other shops:
El Pie de La Letra: Ensayos Completos (Biblioteca Gil de Biedma) (Spanish Edition)by Jaime Gil de Biedma
Mondadori; Published: 2001-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2,475.00
Forbidden Territory and Realms of Strife: The Memoirs of Juan Goytisoloby Juan Goytisolo, Peter R. Bush, Peter Bush
Verso; Published: 2003-07-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Soldier of the Yearby Jose Zuniga
Pocket; Published: 1995-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Lorca: The Gay Imaginationby Paul Binding
Gay Men's Press; Published: 1986-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Laws of Desire: Questions of Homosexuality in Spanish Writing and Film 1960-1990 (Oxford Hispanic Studies)by Paul Julian Smith
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1992-11-19; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Lesbianism and Homosexuality in Early Modern Spain (Gay, Lesbian, Queer Studies/ Gender Studies/ Spanish Studies)by Alain Saint-Saens
University Press of the South; Published: 2000-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $42.99
Price in other shops:
All About My MotherRelease date: 2000-07-11; DVD
Best price: $66.93
![Law of Desire [VHS] Image](/images/Law-of-Desire-VHS-630142378X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Law of Desire [VHS]Cinevista Inc.; Release date: 1989-07-14; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $64.99
Hindsight and the Real: Subjectivity in Gay Hispanic Autobiographyby David Vilaseca
Peter Lang Publishing; Published: 2003-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.65
Price in other shops: