Losing Tim: The Life and Death of an American Contractor in Iraq

Losing Tim: The Life and Death of an American Contractor in Iraq by Burroway, Janet. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780989235235.

Losing Tim is a memoir by a mother about a soldier son who killed himself. Its not an easy read. But its a beautiful one. Burroway, a National Book Award nominee, welcomes readers to grieve along with her, while also providing a lens into how soldiers, and military contractors, like her son, are changed by their combat experiences. Jonathan Shay, author of Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, a highly acclaimed volume on PTSD, and a 2007 MacArthur Foundation Fellow, comments in the foreword, "To me, the pain recalls Homers Iliad, in which, as James Tatum puts it in The Mourners Song, the beauty [of the poetry] is in the killing." Praise for Losing Tim: "This book is both an elegy and a call to action by one of our finest writers, who addresses us from the deepest place imaginable in a voice that is loving, memorable and overflowing with generosity." —Madeleine Blais, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of The Heart is an Instrument: Portraits in Journalism "This book brings a piercing clarity to what it means to lose, to grieve, to give everything, and to love." —Marya Hornbacher, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of Madness: A Bipolar Life "I cannot express my gratitude to Ms. Burroway for writing this soul-searching book, a comfort to no one yet a blessing for all." —Bob Shacochis, National Book Award winner, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul