Footnotes with Michael Pitre
Editor's note: This interview is the first installment in a new series of author interviews. In "Footnotes," we introduce authors through four questions about their writing habits, work routines, motivations and some of their favorite reading materials.
Michael Pitre was a U.S. Marine Corps officer from 2002 to 2010, during which time he deployed twice to Anbar Province in Iraq. Sometime after leaving the Marines, Pitre wrote his debut novel, "Fives and Twenty-Fives" (Bloomsbury, 2015), about a platoon of young American foot-soldiers charged with repairing potholed roads and highways in southern Iraq. Of course, this is a well-told story of young men and women at war in the Middle East. It also is a drama of the after-war, finding these young veterans "haunted by memory, riddled with guilt and soaked in anesthetic liquor as they try to come back to themselves" once the fighing ends. RealClearBooks asked Pitre about the novel, his inspiration to write and about the books Marines read overseas.
Q: What led you to start writing your novel, "Fives and Twenty-Fives"?
I couldn’t sleep. My wife told me that so long as I was awake I should use the time productively. Writing the novel became a way of telling my wife about Iraq. It also became a present for my friends. I wanted to tell a story about Iraq that they would recognize.
Q: What did you read during your deployment to Iraq? What about your Marines?
I found a copy of “Cryptonomicon,” by Neal Stephenson in the battalion lending library. I devoured it, and proceeded to read everything else he’s written. I honestly believe he’s the best American author working today.
My Marines were passing around a copy of “Gates of Fire” by Steven Pressfield. It’s a novel about the Battle of Thermopylae. Every Marine I know has read it.
Q: Tell us about your favorite book.
I discovered the Horatio Hornblower novels when I was twelve, and I still re-read the entry saga every few years. It follows the career of a British naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. The saga begins with Hornblower boarding a warship for the first time as a young midshipman. He’s violently seasick, even though the ship is riding at anchor in protected waters. He never gets over his seasickness despite decades at sea, and he always believes himself a coward despite countless acts of individual courage. I found that very encouraging as a twelve-year-old. I still do.
Q: What are you working on right now?
I’m not writing. I recently adopted a deaf puppy and I’ve been training him using sign language. Between my career in the construction bonding industry and the demands of a deaf puppy, there’s really no time to write. And that’s fine.
