A decent read about a fictional squad of Army guys on a two-week victory tour in the U.S. after their successful firefight with Iraqi insurgents was caught on tape by an embedded news crew, and the video went viral. The squad attends a Thanksgiving Day Dallas Cowboys game and is honored throughout the day and with a big production at half time. The story is told by the protagonist (Billy Lynn) who is struggling – with being a hero, with America’s lavish ways, with American’s ignorance of the war, with the true meaning of life, with a raging hangover and headache, etc. The events of the day unfold in an entertaining, yet sluggish fashion – on purpose, I suppose, as the title suggests – and it felt a bit repetitive and tiring in spots – again, on purpose, I suppose. I also had trouble squaring the deep philosophical thoughts of 19-year old Billy with his juvenile thoughts and actions in other ways. It wasn’t that Billy couldn’t possess both intellect and immaturity, but it seemed that some of the author’s perspectives on the country, war, the entertainment industry, etc. would have been better expressed in other ways and not through Billy. The author’s depiction of Billy’s family dynamics was impressive and may be the book’s strongest area.