Dust to Dust by Benjamin Busch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can't remember how I even heard about this book--and then why I bought the Kindle version. But it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, though not what you would expect from an Iraq war vet who was a Marine. Well, Busch is no ordinary Marine--he is a graduate of Vassar and came out of it an officer. He's also an actor and film-maker. His Dad was a writer and I'd say some of his talent was passed on through his genes.

Just check these few short acclamations on Busch's book--and you'll probably want to read it as wel (Alex--I think you would really enjoy this book)l:

“A beautiful meditation on war, loss, and the larger questions of life and death.” (Huffington Post)
“[Busch] writes with the precision of a stonemason, the courage of a combat veteran, and the inquisitiveness of an artist. . . . A haunting meditation on time, memory, and death.” (Baltimore City Paper)
“Busch carries us on a haunting, humorous, and poignant journey.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Dust to Dust is startlingly good.” (The SunBreak)
“A meditation on the literal and figurative borders of life—country to country, river to lake, soil to dust, wood to ash, life to death, blood to bones, child to man—[that] explores the wonders of the natural world and our solitary lives within it.” (Hour Detroit magazine)
“Elegiac, funny, wistful, deep, and wonderfully human, Dust to Dust moved me to laughter and tears, sometimes simultaneously. . . . After reading this book, you will want to go outside and really look at our world.” (Karl Marlantes, bestselling author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like to Go to War)
“Dust to Dust is a wonderful book, original in concept and stunningly written, a soldier’s memoir that is about soldiering and much else besides. The last two dozen pages are a tour de force, a breathtaking meditation on loss and remembrance, dust to dust.” (Ward Just)

A tour de force work all-around.


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