Glad I read it. I enjoyed the introduction where Steinbeck talks about the pressure to support the war effort while he was working. You can definitely see it in his writing. There were some genuinely funny moments: the rumination on the way that the English v Americans eat vegetables, the soldier who carried a giant mirror through a war zone because he wanted to take it home with him, Lt. Goat.

I thought it was great for what it is. Do not think it’s a novel or a cohesive story, it isn’t. And do NOT take it at face value. Please read Steinbeck’s own introduction. He says plainly that his writings are only barely true because of the propaganda elements and “war effort” and censorship he was under sling with all war correspondents. However, his writing is charming and vivid and poignant nonetheless. It felt like watching MASH and specifically the episodes where the characters were writing letters home and narrating their lives in their day to day moments.

I loved how he wrote but know that what he wrote is at least partly fiction for the sake of getting it published and he is very up front about it himself.