M.C. Armstrong is the author of The Mysteries of Haditha, published in 2020 by Potomac Books, and American Delphi, published in 2022 by MilSpeak Books. The Brooklyn Rail called The Mysteries of Haditha one of the “Best Books of 2020,” and Armstrong’s story was nominated for “Best Memoir” at the 2021 American Book Festival. Armstrong, who grew up in Winchester, Virginia, embedded with Joint Special Operations Forces in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2008. He published extensively on the Iraq war through The Winchester Star. Armstrong is the winner of a Pushcart Prize and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Esquire, The Missouri Review, The Gettysburg Review, Mayday, Monkeybicycle, Wrath-bearing Tree, Epiphany, War, Literature, and the Arts, The Literary Review, and other journals and anthologies. He teaches writing at Guilford College and is the guitarist and lead singer-songwriter for Viva la Muerte, an original rock and roll band. You can follow him on Twitter @mcarmystrong.
Media for American Delphi:
Summary:
During America's summer of plague and protest, fifteen-year-old Zora Box worries her pesky younger brother is a psychopath for sneaking out at night to hang with their suspicious new neighbor, Buck London, who's old enough to be their father. Their father, a combat veteran, is dead-suicide. Or so everyone thinks, until Buck sets Zora and her brother Zach straight, revealing their father as the genius inventor of a truth-telling, future-altering device called American Delphi.
Once Zora discovers the true history of her family, her life begins to change, and so do the paths of everyone around her, including a community of activists who descend on her neighborhood after the tragic death of Zora's best friend, a trans-teen named Aria, propelling Zora to activism and international hashtag status.
“An intriguing kaleidoscope…compelling…An engaging story of current events and social justice for teen readers.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“A heroine's journey for our uniquely dystopian times, American Delphi is a terrific YA novel to entertain both old and young. You'll fall in love with the narrator like you once fell in love with Katniss Everdeen. Armstrong’s avatar is the hard-nosed, whip-smart Zora; like Katniss, Zora’s destined to become a household name.”
-Aaron Gwyn, author of All God’s Children and Wynne’s War
“Zora Box is a teenage girl who has crushes, bickers with her brother, gets arrested, and is insecure about her nose. Zora is the everywoman of the world. She is oblivious to the news and the wars all around her. Until she isn’t. American Delphi is the powerful story of waking up and discovering that you can use your voice to make change. Let the rising begin. I am Zora.”
-Naima Said, actor, journalist and host of the Heeere’s NeeNee Horror Podcast
“American Delphi is a riveting, wise, slightly terrifying, and wonderful book. Zora's voice is both funny and sad, like being a teenager, like figuring life out, like being an American in a country of hurt; like suddenly realizing there are truth-seekers in this world who have paid the price. Armstrong is a terrific writer, and I cannot wait to read more of his work.”
-Andria Williams, author of The Longest Night
Media for The Mysteries of Haditha:
Summary:
M. C. Armstrong secured his embed as a journalist with the Navy SEALs in 2008. Shortly before he left for Iraq his father asked him to tell the story no one else seemed to be telling, the story of the people sometimes constructed as our friends and other times our enemies: the Iraqis. “But what about them?” he asked. “Who’s their good guy? Who’s their George Washington? That’s the story you want to find. Talk to them.”
Armstrong’s searing memories about his relationship with his father, his fiancé, and his SEAL team companion take the reader on a nosedive ride from a historically black college in the American South straight into Baghdad, the burn pits, and the desert beyond the mysterious Haditha dam. Culminating in the disclosure of a devastating secret, The Mysteries of Haditha explores the lengths Armstrong was willing to go to prove himself and to witness a truth he couldn’t have prepared himself to receive. At once daring, dark, and hilarious, this memoir of M. C. Armstrong’s journey pulls no punches and lifts the veil on the lies we tell each other and the ones we tell ourselves. The Mysteries of Haditha is a coming-of-age story and an unprecedented glimpse into the heart of the war on terror.
Awards:
Best Memoir. Nominated by Potomac Books. American Book Fest 2021.
Best Books of 2020. The Brooklyn Rail. Nonfiction.
Reviews:
Kirkus review of American Delphi in full:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mc-armstrong/american-delphi/
Ian McDowell’s “The Burning Detritus of Battle”: https://www.yesweekly.com/literature/the-burning-detritus-of-battle-m-c-armstrong-s-the-mysteries-of-haditha/article_9ea05916-d6ac-11ea-bb3a-8f308f98bc15.html
Maxie Jane Frazier: https://www.wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/32/BookReviews.pdf
Naima Said: https://carolinianuncg.com/2021/04/06/the-mysteries-of-haditha-a-memoir/
Carole Perkins’ “Everyman in Iraq”: https://caroleperkins.com/f/the-mysteries-of-haditha-everyman-in-iraq
Podcasts:
The Protectors: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-protectors-1135185/episodes/season-3-mc-armstrong-author-m-85651322
The Mud Mop: https://radiopublic.com/the-mud-mop-WPeMlv/s1!b9b4d
Music:
http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2020/09/m_c_armstrongs.html
Video:
Of Consequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VrS_yidTKs
Miscellaneous:
https://monkeybicycle.net/if-my-book-the-mysteries-of-haditha-m-c-armstrong/
https://drafthouse.com/winchester/news/the-mauritanian-with-special-guest-m.c.-armstrong
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