Masters of War

Brilliantly conceived, Craig Challender’s powerful prose poem Masters of War earns a place in the pantheon of works limning the inner and outer weathers of wartime, its structure a call-and-response colloquy across a century between Union soldier Josiah Chandler and his great grandson Greg, a graduate student caught in the sea change of the Viet Nam years. The narrative arc traces Josiah’s travels from muster, across Virginia, and to a military hospital where he is tended by a nurse who ministers to body and soul, and alternately follows Greg as he enters basic training at Fort Leonard Wood and ships out for Fort Ord and beyond. Along the way, each soldier’s words and experiences contain multitudes. Challender’s unerring ear captures the diction of each era and his attention to cultural touchstones makes palpable their words. The presence of poet guides throughout—Jeffers, Auden, Ginsberg, Whitman—adds further depth and resonance to this emotionally adept report from the front lines. This is a beautiful, heart-stopping achievement. —Janet Peery, National Book Award finalist, Author of The River Beyond the World