Phil Klay
U.S. Marine Corps veteran and author of Redeployment, winner of 2014 National Book Award for Fiction
Brian Castner
Decorated war veteran and author of The Long Walk and Disappointment River
Brian Castner presents “The Long Walk” at the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Selection
Brian Castner presents “The Long Walk” at the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Selection
Photo credit: Joey Campagna
A war veteran turned memoirist, Brian Castner served three tours of duty in the Middle East. He astonishes audiences with his harrowing story of his struggle to survive modern combat in Iraq and the arduous journey back to his family.
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About Brian Castner
Brian Castner served as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer in the US Air Force from 1999 to 2007, deploying to Iraq to command bomb disposal units in Balad and Kirkuk in 2005 and 2006. His memoir The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life That Follows is the story of his struggle to survive modern combat in Iraq and his personal tale of confronting the new person he had become upon returning to his family. Castner astonishes audiences with his powerful and harrowing story of the terror, excitement, and camaraderie of combat, and the lonely battle against the unshakable fear, anxiety, and survivor guilt that he—like so many veterans—carries inside.
After leaving the active military, Brian Castner became a consultant and contractor, training Army and Marine Corps units prior to their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His writing has appeared in a number of national and regional publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Foreign Policy,Publishers Weekly, and Garry Trudeau’s The Sandbox, an online forum for dispatches by Iraq and Afghanistan service members. His latest book, Disappointment River, is a travel memoir and historical account of Castner’s retracing of Alexander Mackenzie’s 1789 journey in search of the Northwest Passage.
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Speaking Topics
Covering the Forever War
After writing his war memoir, The Long Walk, Castner became a freelance journalist, and has reported from conflict areas around the world. Take a ride across the globe, with American soldiers in Afghanistan, desperate Ebola doctors in Liberia, and to the rise of ISIS in Iraq, to hear about the forces shaping our world.
A Journey to the Arctic
In the summer of 2016, Castner paddled the 1100 mile Mackenzie River, the second longest in North America, all the way to Arctic Ocean, to tell the story of Alexander Mackenzie in Disappointment River. But only a few years before, he was struggling to return home after combat tours in Iraq. Hear his remarkable story of Post Traumatic Growth, and how a bomb suit in Iraq led to a canoe in the Arctic.
The Challenge of Climate Change
In 1789, when Alexander Mackenzie paddled the river that now bears his name, he was met at the Arctic with impassable pack ice. When Castner paddled the same route in 2016, he saw open ocean. Castner discusses his journey through traditional Indigenous villages, and how oil pipelines, drilling, melting snow roads, and climate change are affecting their way of life, as the Arctic warms twice as fast as the rest of the globe.
From Iraq to the Klondike, the Power of Story
Castner worked as a bomb technician in Iraq, paddled the 1100 mile Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean, and retraced the steps of the stampeders in search of gold in the Yukon. What unites these journeys? They all teach us that what we find on the quest may not be what we expect, and that stories have the power to change our lives.
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Video
Brian Castner presents “The Long Walk” at the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Selection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZIUzzYjf98
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Praise for Brian Castner
Brian Castner was highly entertaining, blending personal anecdotes with facts from his research in a way that provided great insight into the commonalities between his books. The audience was engaged – laughing, gasping, and nodding as they listened – and asked several questions after the program, which Brian answered thoroughly and thoughtfully. One attendee told us that Brian’s framing device of “What are we even doing here?” is now the question he will keep in mind when contemplating both past and current events.
— South Dakota Humanities CouncilBrian Castner was GREAT. Even exceeded already-high expectations, in my opinion! A great speaker, very engaging, clear, easy to follow and understand. Just all around excellent, I think. The high school teachers loved it and thought it was perfect – he said things about writing they’ve been trying to tell their students. The students had a lot of questions. And all the attendees I talked to at the evening session seemed to have greatly enjoyed it too.
— Niagara UniversityPraise for Stampede
A ripping tale of ambition, adventure, insanity and greed. Brian Castner tells a big American story of the last big American frontier. I couldn’t put this book down.
— Elliot Ackerman, author of Red Dress in Black & White and finalist for the National Book AwardStampede is a much-needed historical restorative on the true nature of the Klondike Gold Rush. But it is also a timely and vivid account of an encounter between American hubris and the Alaska Factor that ended disastrously, and a reminder of the respect this place deserves.
— Matthew Komatsu, Alaskan search and rescue, and Alaska Literary Award winnerA riveting tale told with panache and discernment. Brian Castner brings to throbbing life the thousand days of the Klondike rush, and leaves the reader breathless yet edified.
— H. W. BrandsPraise for Disappointment River
Vivid. . . . Castner has the Conradian ability to make you see and feel.
— The Washington PostDisappointment River is an adventure tale that will keep you happily reading while safely in your armchair.
— Minneapolis Star TribuneWhether recounting the historic search for the Northwest Passage or his own epic journey on the Mackenzie River, Castner is an able guide, a steady hand, a voice of reason. You’ll want to sit in his canoe and ride this out. I couldn’t put Disappointment River down.
— Dean King, author of Skeletons on the Zahara and The FeudAn exhilarating historical narrative…Castner evokes vivid personalities and drama from the archives … Historians and armchair travelers alike will be equally pleased with this volume.”
— Publishers WeeklyVividly described, in well-wrought scenes that alternate from inspiring to humorous to stomach-clenching… Castner is a highly skilled writer and engaging companion.
— Anchorage Daily NewsAppealing on both historical and contemporary levels, Castner’s work will please readers fascinated by tales of discovery.
— Booklist…Intriguing and enlightening…For anyone concerned with the global effects of climate change, the meaning behind Disappointment River becomes alarmingly clear.
— BookPage[Castner] provides a lively biography of Mackenzie… A vital addition to the library of the far north and of exploration.
— Kirkus, starred reviewPraise for The Long Walk
The Long Walk brings home in a visceral way the hidden, personal burden of war that many veterans continue to carry.
— The Boston GlobeDirect and disturbing...A painful but compelling read, even as Castner finds ways to cope, at least partially, with his long walk back at home.
— NPR -
Books by Brian Castner
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Featured Title
Stampede
“Brian Castner’s Stampede is a masterful narrative history—deeply researched, beautifully written, and utterly compelling. Novelistic in the best sense, with vivid characters and carefully reconstructed scenes of life among the prospectors, this book is an endlessly fascinating joy to read.”
—Phil Klay, author of Missionaries and winner of the National Book Award
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