title: Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War
author:  Matt Gallagher 
description: While the grand, noble causes of the past wars continue to capture our collective imaginations, the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated with greater ambivalence. Fire and Forget, a collection of short stories by authors who are also military veterans (or, in one case, a family member), captures the messiness of soldiering when the mission and endgame are unclear. Though fiction, each work reads true, filled with tension, fear, and anger. Readers are transported to desert checkpoints, ride along with vehicle convoys, and return home from combat to face an uncertain future. Standouts include Andrew Slaters New Me, a sobering glimpse inside the mind of a soldier who has suffered a traumatic brain injury. In Tips for a Smooth Transition, Siobhan Fallon, an army wife, quotes from a manual that urges spouses to set up a security plan in the event that their husbands experience a vivid flashback. Its a stark reminder that war, for combatants and their families, never truly ends. Writes Gavin Ford Kovite: Heads they win, tails you lose. --Patty Wetli
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  # The Best Short Stories of 1917
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Edward J. O'Brien
  
  
  This page formatted 2007 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com
  
  * [INTRODUCTION](shose_split_2.html#1_0_2)
  
  
  * [THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF 1917](shose_split_3.html#1_0_3)
  
  
  * [THE EXCURSION[2]](shose_split_4.html#1_0_4)
  
  
  * [ONNIE[3]](shose_split_5.html#1_0_5)
  
  
  * [A CUP OF TEA[4]](shose_split_6.html#1_0_6)
  
  
  * [LONELY PLACES[5]](shose_split_7.html#1_0_7)
  
  
  * [BOYS WILL BE BOYS[6]](shose_split_8.html#1_0_8)
  
  
  * [LAUGHTER[7]](shose_split_9.html#1_0_9)
  
  
  * [THE EMPEROR OF ELAM[8]](shose_split_10.html#1_0_10)
  
  
  * [THE GAY OLD DOG[9]](shose_split_11.html#1_0_11)
  
  
  * [THE KNIGHT'S MOVE[10]](shose_split_12.html#1_0_12)
  
  
  * [A JURY OF HER PEERS[11]](shose_split_13.html#1_0_13)
  
  
  * [THE BUNKER MOUSE[12]](shose_split_14.html#1_0_14)
  
  
  * [RAINBOW PETE[13]](shose_split_15.html#1_0_15)
  
  
  * [GET READY THE WREATHS[14]](shose_split_16.html#1_0_16)
  
  
  * [THE STRANGE-LOOKING MAN