The New York Times surveys what might be called SEAL Lit: first-person accounts by American participants in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them by Navy SEALs. "Readers have been snapping up the books, eager to get a glimpse behind the fog of war and ready to embrace stories that accentuate heroism instead of the often dreary developments report in daily news accounts," the Times wrote.
Bestsellers that have helped fuel the publishing boom include Seal Team Six by Howard E. Wadin and Stephen Templin (St. Martin's Press)--a YA version is appearing in April--and American Sniper by Chris Kyle (Morrow). Upcoming titles include The Trident by Jason Redman (Morrow), SEAL Survival Guide by Cade Courtley (Gallery); SEAL Team 666, a novel by Weston Ochse (Thomas Dunne).
American Sniper author Chris Kyle noted that he hears from many fans and at his overflow events a refrain that goes, "I haven't read a book since I had to. And yours is the first that I've read."
Sarah Brown, a buyer at Changing Hands, Tempe, Ariz., noted that the focus of these books by and about highly trained soldiers allows readers to avoid political issues involving the wars. "People feel they're reading about the war, but it's not hard to swallow," she said. "How many books can you read about how we shouldn't be there, or how we got there, or the history of the Taliban?"
