After twelve months of military service in Iraq, Michael Anthony stepped off a plane, seemingly happy to be home - or at least back on US soil. He was twenty-one years old, a bit of a nerd, and carrying a pack of cigarettes that he thought would be his last. Two weeks later, Michael was stoned on Vicodin, drinking way too much, and picking a fight with a very large Hell's Angel. At his wit's end, he came to an agreement with himself: If things didn't improve in three months, he was going to kill himself. (But in the meantime, he had some dating classes to attend.) Civilianized is a surprising and dark-humored memoir that chronicles Michael's search for meaning in a suddenly destabilized world.