Eat the Apple

A Memoir

By: Matt Young

Narrated by: Charlie Thurston

A gut-wrenching, beautiful memoir which explores toxic masculinity and the devastating consequences of war on one impressionable young soldier

Matt Young joined the Marine Corps aged 18, after a drunken night that culminated in him crashing his car into a fire hydrant. The teenage wasteland he fled followed him to the training bases of California. Young survived training and then three deployments to Iraq as an infantryman.

Eat the Apple is the searing and honest response to those years. Visceral, ironic, self-lacerating and ultimately redemptive, Young's story drops us unarmed into Marine Corps culture and lays bare the vulnerability of those on the front lines and the true, if often misguided, motivations that drove a young man to a life at war.

Tender and brilliantly written, Eat the Apple is a powerful coming-of-age story that explores toxic masculinity and maps the insane geography of our times.

©2018 Matt Young (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

6 out of 5

If you ever wore the Eagle, Globe & Anchor, or if you didnt't.....It's must read.

I felt like I was in the Marine Corps again.

I loved it and appreciated the comedy in the reality of what Marine Corps experience is truly like.

Highly Recommend for Marines (current and former)

I have been out of the Corps for over 2 years now. This book is a must read for Marines who are trying to make sense of it all and adjust back to civilian life.

Desperately wants to be Anthony Swofford's Jarhead

Any additional comments?

The author desperately wants "Eat the Apple" to be Anthony Swofford's "Jarhead," but it falls well short. Although it tries to use Swofford's method of writing, it's missing Swofford's raw, yet poetic voice.

Overall, it is a decent read/listen, but the glowing reviews of this book on Amazon.com are clearly from the author's friends and family.

Excellent. An expert witness of the under belly that is the USMC Infantry

Great book. The author conveys exactly the raw emotions that one goes through while serving with the USMC infantry. The repercussions of violent culture and alcoholism is very well explained. A must read.