This story takes place in the chaotic, inhospitable confines of United States Marine Corps boot camp, where civilian boys are morphed into lean, mean fighting machines, willing to give a limb to go to war. For Mark Damion Wool, who hails from an upper-middle-class California suburb and fancies himself special and exceptional, it proves unpredictably shocking, even terrifying. Mark and his childhood friend, Tony Amante, pass through all three phases of this arduous test of physical strength, marksmanship, and emotional gymnastics with growing trepidation and regret. As they clear hurdle after hurdle, they experience burgeoning confidence, pride, and esprit de corps.

The process through which they are stripped of their civilian fragility, not to mention the lofty degree of entitlement with which they regretfully arrived at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, is gradual, subtle, yet very real. It is a shocking, enlightening, at times harrowing journey from contemptible civilian to crisp, disciplined United States Marine. The Gods of Vainglory is a story like no other, painting a realistic, riveting picture of what boys will endure to become Devil Dogs, Leathernecks, and Jarheads.

Though the story is fictional, it is based on the real-life experiences of the author. Indeed, he spent five years in the Marine Corps, intoxicated by the abundant pride instilled over the course of that eventful period. In the end, it was well worth the trip. Semper Fidelis!

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