The Gift Shop at the DMZ

Full of dry wit that at times spills over into hilarity, this memoir chronicles the adventures of a liberal, anti-war psychotherapist in a role she never expected to have: offering counseling to military personnel and families. Hang on for a wild ride through Colorado, Kentucky, Washington State, Pennsylvania, Germany, and Korea, with stops at the Gettysburg Battlefield, Washington D.C. war memorials, and German hot springs spas. And naturally, the DMZ. Suddenly immersed in a culture distinctly foreign to her previous life experience, the author is fascinated by the opportunity to observe at close range the military lifestyle and those who choose it. She describes feeling “like a spy, or perhaps an anthropologist.” By describing numerous therapeutic encounters, she provides a compassionate view of the emotional stress on military personnel and their families, caused by the U.S. being on war footing for the past twenty-two years since the 9/11 attack. With her outsider’s perspective, she sees how a military-civilian divide has arisen in this era of an all-volunteer force, and provides insight into the common humanity of those who accept the invitation to be trained as warriors and those who do not.