Will Mackin Books In Order

Publication Order of Collections

Will Mackin is a reputed American novelist, who is famous for writing military fiction, short stories, and war stories. He is particularly well known for writing the collection of short stories, Bring Out the Dog. This collection features 11 short stories, each describing the experiences of the soldiers during the time of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Author Mackin is a veteran of the United States Navy. During his service period in the navy, he was sent on war missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Mackin’s first posting was as an officer of weapons system. He served on board a carrier based jet. Following this mission in Iraq, Mackin was sent to Afghanistan on the rank of a joint terminal officer. After retiring from his naval service, author Mackin started focusing on his primary career choice, that is, writing novels. As he had the vast experience of the military service, it became an obvious choice for him to write such stories. He used his own experience and the ones of his fellow soldiers to describe war stories in his very first book. The book fared very well in the market and this helped author Mackin to have a healthy start to his writing career. He followed up the initial success with his second book, Crossing the River No Name. Author Mackin has another novel to his name, which is titled Kattekoppen. This book too has received great success in all the places of its release. It has managed to attract a large number of readers, thereby helping Mackin to get noticed by many critics, prominent writers, and readers. The books written by Mackin have appeared in numerous literally journals all across the nation and in foreign countries as well. Mackin collaborated with photographer Grant Cornett for carrying out the illustrations of his novel Kattekoppen.

The ‘Bring Out the Dog’ is the debut story collection written by author Will Mackin. For writing this book, author Mackin took input from his numerous deployments with the task force of special operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and various other places. Mackin began writing the first draft of the stories in the form of notes that he wrote on the inside part of his arms with the use of grease pencil. Later, he copied all such notes in bulleted points on his MRE kit’s torn off the flaps. And whenever Mackin used to get spare times, he used to incorporate the notes in his journals. Finally, several years later, he thought of using his journal to develop it into a book. All the eleven stories in this book offer an excellent portrait of the poetry and absurdity, defining life in the most clandestine and elite circles of the modern warfare. The world described by Mackin consists of intense bonds, surprising compassion, and the ancient credo of success and failure, and the elusive definitions of these elements. The plot is written in such a way that it moves between abroad and home, in a language so vivid that it reflects the discontent and wonder of war. With his choice of words, Mackin successfully drew the readers into a series of unsettling, deeply human, and surreal episodes.

In one of the book’s stories, Mackin has mentioned a close call that gives the impression that miracles do exist in this world, no matter how brutal and shortly they are supplied. In another story, the task force’s beloved dog dies. Due to this, the entire task force is plunged into a totally different type of grief. The book moves forward by explaining how an individual struggle in reconciling his different commitments as a soldier and as a father. Also, the stories depict how a man given the job of pulling the things together, struggles himself with a control loss. Mackin’s stories are told without any instance of false bravery. The stories contain a keen absurd sense, just like the ones of Barry Hannah. Overall, this book successfully captures the heroism and tragedy, and the exultation and degradation, in terms of the minute details about war. Most stories described by Will Mackin are deliberately short with open ends. Mackin says that he has purposely done so in order to make the stories look unique.

The central plot of the stories make the readers realize the toll and the hardships that the soldiers have to go through. Hence, it can be rightly said about the book that it is not meant for the ones with faint hearts. Many critics believe that the topic of war is often swept under very easily. It seems like an uncomfortable genre that is kept hidden from normal conversations. But, Mackin’s stories and writing style have proved that this topic can also be an interesting thing to read, if presented in a proper way. The stories that author Mackin has presented very explain the difference between good, bad, and ugly.

They elaborately explain the unthinkable and uncomfortable experiences encompassing the day to day life of Navy SEALs at the times of war. By reading the stories, the readers are taken into the brotherhood of the Navy immediately. They feel mesmerized by the lingo and culture of the soldiers. They become astonished to learn how the soldiers see death on a daily basis and make it a part of their routine life. The Navy people also have to cause death for making the world remain safe for its good people. The collection is written in journal entries perspective, and it provides full entertainment value. The most important thing about these stories is that they give a realistic view of the inside world of wars. They depict the preparations, team work, and the mind set of the Navy personnel while fighting against the Taliban.

Mackin has done a tremendous job of giving the real insights of the brutal war. He has given even the smallest of the details that constitute the typically gruesome situations faced by the Navy members during their deployments in the war zones. A major portion of this book revolves around the deployments, but there are also some descriptions of the life and training at the military bases. With the brief and meaningful descriptions, Mackin has portrayed all the important things that encompass the military life. He has shown all the human aspects of war, and how it changes one from within and makes him look at the world in a different way.