David Finkel, the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of "Thank You for Your Service," will visit UD to discuss his book with freshmen as part of the 2014 First Year Common Reader Program.

Finkel to address freshmen

First Year Common Reader author to discuss 'Thank You for Your Service'

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9:22 a.m., Sept. 16, 2014--David Finkel, the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Thank You for Your Service, will visit the University of Delaware on Tuesday, Sept. 23, to discuss his book with freshmen as part of the 2014 First Year Common Reader Program. Finkel will speak at 5 p.m. in Mitchell Hall. 

Through the program, selected works are read by UD freshmen before arriving on campus for the fall semester in conjunction with other events. 

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Published by Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Finkel’s latest book brings to light the challenges faced by American soldiers and their families in the aftermath of war. 

A recipient of the Carla Cohen Literary Prize for nonfiction, Thank You for Your Service also was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Critics Award in that category. 

In his previous book, For the Good Soldiers, Finkel drew on his experiences as an embedded reporter with the U.S. Army’s 16th Infantry 2nd Battalion (2-16) during the harrowing experiences of the 2007 Iraq surge. 

Thank You for Your Service covers the lives of members of 2-16 back in the U.S. after their deployment ended. 

“I am looking forward to campus conversation about the serious issues dealt with by Finkel in this book — about the human cost of war that extends beyond the war itself,” said Deputy Provost Nancy Brickhouse.

An editor and writer for the Washington Post, Finkel has reported from Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe and across the United States. He has covered wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. 

A recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2006, Finkel earned a 2014 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” grant. 

The Good Soldiers won multiple awards and was named a New York Times Top 10 book of the year. 

About the First Year Common Reader

The shared common reader is a unique opportunity for students to engage in a meaningful conversation with fellow students and to begin to share in the intellectual life of the entire UD community. The book is read before arriving on campus with speakers, films, and other cultural events, organized around the theme of the book throughout the first semester.

Previous common readers have included My Beloved World, by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, by Katherine Boo; and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

Article by Jerry Rhodes

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