The Fine Art of Camouflage, by Lauren Johnson (MilSpeak Foundation, 2023, 270pp, $18.95) Review by Skye Anderson
Once again is it premature to say The Fine Art of Camouflage just may be our Book of the Year!
A Seattle nurse and Army reservist is called up (for Desert Storm) for an indefinite length of time, leaving behind her family with three children. Fast forward nearly 20 years and we find her daughter, a public affairs officer in the Air Force deploying to Afghanistan (for Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF). This sets up the unusual story of a very close mother-daughter relationship that spans the entire US continent plus two wars in two countries, two different branches of military service, and two different jobs - yet, the similarities are woven together seamlessly as the author jumps from one time period to the other and back again.
Author Lauren Johnson has penned an exciting fast-paced memoir of her very close-knit family with a writing style reminiscent of Harper Lee's (To Kill a Mockingbird). I especially loved the final sentences in nearly every chapter - they keep you wanting to read the next chapter right away and several of them are surprises, showing the humanity of the author.
Set mainly in 2009, the same time as the battle of COP Keating (depicted in Red Platoon) and a couple of provinces* away, the reader can actually get a good glimpse of daily life on a base in active eastern Afghanistan on the border with Pakistan. Johnson's job also takes her outside the wire (off base) often to meet with Afghan dignitaries and to write about new schools and other construction projects funded by the United States, in the manner of Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea).
Johnson survives emotionally with the help of her boyfriend "Chris" and her team of wonderful soldiers and airmen. She grows with confidence and increased job skills but we also experience, with her, some disillusionment with the mission.
The book also brings into the story events happening in the US at the same time and how they affect our troops, and Johnson's experiences upon her redeployment: it is often more difficult to reacclimate to the US than it is to live in a foreign country.
The Fine Art of Camouflage would make an excellent book for your book club with its many avenues of discussion.
*next to the province of Khost where Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in 2004. See Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. And next to the province of Paktika where Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base during this time frame Johnson was deployed.
