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Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite
Ridiculosity: A Deployment to Afghanistan by Todd Campau is an irreverent look at an overseas deployment to Afghanistan written by a U.S. soldier. Ridiculosity is not a typical military or deployment memoir, in the sense that it is less about the technicality of war zone combat or weapon use, etc. and instead focuses more on the day to day routine of life on base. Todd describes his year-long deployment with plenty of humor and anecdotal incidences about himself and his fellow soldiers. The book doesn't really follow a set format. It is divided into chapters that discuss several aspects of daily life and routine on an Afghan base including food, bathroom and shower facilities with plenty of related humor accompanying it, the role played by women as well as the LGBT community in the military, pranks played on each other, and most importantly, the unique personalities of the soldiers and the genuine friendships between them.
Ridiculosity: A Deployment to Afghanistan by Todd Campau is a quick and fun read. Before reading the book, I imagined it to be a serious military memoir filled with battle experiences. However, Ridiculosity is refreshingly different: it instead focuses on personal relationships including the sexual relationships that sometimes form under certain conditions. All of Todd's friends and acquaintances and their personalities are wonderfully characterized, and the writing style is direct, simple, and comes across as genuine. There is also a brief epilogue at the end of what life looks like after coming back to the States, and the effects of having been in a war zone. I also liked the political commentary that was interspersed in a few places throughout the book, which brings up the question: what was the point of it all? This is a definitely a book I would recommend.
