Whatever Mitt might think, if there’s one thing that makes us proud to be British, it’s the fact we’re not American. Alright, it’s true we don’t have a black president but we still think we’re cooler: less brash, more sarcastic and ready to give Tim Berners-Lee a starring role in the Olympic show.
The differences are particularly obvious when it comes to the holy trinity of American life: guns, god and portion sizes. And Ben Fountain’s debut novel – at the age of 48, he’s a honed late developer after the excellent short story collection Brief Encounters With Che Guevara (2006) – rips into all three over-indulgences. In Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, the Bravo squad, after Fox News serendipitously captures their particularly bloodthirsty rescue mission to national rapture, have been flown home to be awarded their laurels. Except no resting is allowed. With what’s left of the squad of All-American heroes, 18-year-old Billy is gently but firmly ushered through a whistle-stop tour of the USA ending up at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game, the culminating highlight and scene for this blistering novel.
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