throughout the united states from the civil war lead to an imagined stalin grattan, rubbery and manufactured vietcong phellogen virginia. this is about 50 minutes. ..

>> the real origin is when i was in college i spent my junior year abroad. i went to to london to study shakespeare. but when i came back i felt more alive and speaking his language and anything else.

what a great way to make a living. with the local renaissance fair i was cast as romeo. i was there all excited. ben it was the truncated version of 30 minutes. [laughter] it was not quite the national theater i had thought. so you'd have it a character i did not know i was getting into any of this. i was intrigued by a seeing

people show up to the fair as elizabethan. i've wondered i'm getting paid $150 a week and they do it voluntarily. what is it about dressing up that appeals to people? what was the interaction and why are people attracted to was certain period of time? they were dressing up as the elizabethan period. why are they attracted to a moment in time? i can say i grew up in a log cabin. built in 1740.

and next two homage people. a never thought anything of it. it is my life. mildew and cricket floorboards and the people down the street have no electricity. i wanted to go to the big city. to see tall buildings upham and have the exciting life. and move to new york and then to los angeles. one saying is that all of a sudden you feel very divorced from the east coast traditional upbringing.

and was living in this city dating back to the 1950's. i felt very detached then i needed that in my life. seat one day i was in the shower and of my wife first into the bathroom of nowhere says if you could go back to college and major within a subject what would it be? i burst out history. i didn't quite put the pieces together or understand what it was i thought was missing in my life not that long after

words and is fond of palace verdes peninsula and early july they hold a timeline event where re-enactment of all time periods show up they dress up in uniforms and talk about their particular moment in time. i did not realize people dressup best moments at that time. zero lourdes dressed up as biking list. one particular group was not there.

i typed in the nazi re-enactment. and then there was some three results. people do this. it is on the internet. then i discovered a website. drive on stalingrad.com. it was for the upcoming re-enactment. and the have the rules, photos i could not tell if they were real or stage. i sent than any mail. i live a loss change -- plessey angeles can i play along? they said sure.

it is called sleepless in stalingrad. and don't know if you have been to the plains of colorado. nothing there. i saw a tree and a bird. if you know, about the battle it was one of the most terrific of waldheim's between one and 2 million people died over seven months. stolid with you whoever he could and people were freezing to death and it was horrible. and look down and solve a

small swastika. ahead never been through basic training or surge in our military and weighed 20 pounds more and was not in shape and i had no idea. the plan was we would stop and spend the night in a one-room schoolhouse. the temperature was dropping fast and we did not have sipping bags because we would be authentic. [laughter] thing in the presence of 90 snoring men and frigid temperatures i did not sleep a wink.

so what this point* i have not slept in 36 hours. i am lying in the one-room schoolhouse. imus my wife my said i would never complained about another thing as long as i live. because nothing could be worse. all of a sudden and rancher comes and he has no idea this is happening near his property. he sees a bunch of nazis eight out to and he has some questions. [laughter] aboya ase -- of voice brings

back i wondered if i was being summoned for guard duty then he said let's go. now. there is a man downside is saying he has a lease on the schoolhouse and he is best. grabbing their canteens and rifles the pickup truck was idling and the high beams stretched and swarms of nazis scurried about filling in the craters and steam from the kitchen waste did into the air. i sifted around for information but they had biden approval but not all

of the neighbors knew about it. so when the uninformed cattle rancher drove by not to mention the motorcycles and horses and the take he freaked out. now they were trying to calm him down. i dumped the supply is next to a ditch if they had heard any updates. one tall guy a shock -- shrugged his shoulders. this happens but his friend was livid. people say that is cool but he has to ruin everything. the truth came out he did not have a lease but a vietnam vet with three bullet holes in his chest

and did not think it was cool. why don't you educate people instead? 9.our eyes he was carrying a gun 100% and his a mission was blank at zero%. this was the first danger we face all day. one not see went nose to nose. that did not help. then to pick up trucks arrived with headlights shining now was passive aggressive posture. don't mess with colorado. leave it to a red neck to ruin it for everybody.

[laughter] the debt would be canceled we have to move for the night. it did not take long for route to disintegrate. i overheard men from texas the moaning that people had dropped out know the rest were considering too much walking and not enough shooting. when they said motel i pounced on him. what squad? likud not remember i blurted out california. they said that is not a squad name. i cannot feel my toes. i feared i would be the last german casualty.

another was returning to pick up the rest of the deserters. okay. meet me at the crossroads in 15 minutes. thank you so much. i could barely form the words. as the rancher dial the 911. it's the car stopped in front of the schoolhouse stock and a bald man got out with a gold star on his chest. he would chew the fat and with the nazi for a while what happened was some minor infraction and it looked like things would be resolved but then we heard a

low rumble. like the apocalyptic trap. allowed. and quickly getting louder. the men recognized what it was. it was the russians. they were launching a surprise attack. nobody told them there was a timeout on the field. like lightning 44 armored vehicles charge over the hill before anybody had a chance there were opening fire. [laughter] outburst of flames spit out like a motorized dragon.

the concussion was head deafening it was firing as well. the driver never saw the germans. he tore off into the darkness. germans ran to the vehicle yelling stock. stock. stock. not get off. cut it out. that and then it finally ground to a halt the dark sky had to live up and it was the cop who turned on his patrol lights and his eyes were bugging out of his head. [laughter] that scare the shit out of me he said. i do not carry blanks.

once fed dust settled the cop turned back to they have the and four in rome or one? the not say looked at him then replied world war ii. and i did not stick around. the truck with the tags arrived and embrace myself unchanged over with the arctic wind blowing i prayed the nazis would not shoot us but none came. one guy muttered i have been looking forward to this for five months. to make sure it is all

authentic. nobody responded. [applause] >> after that i went to florida and re-enacted the civil war because it was warmer. i do plan to read more. but i have limited time and "the dark knight" opens tonight. but does anybody have any questions about historical re-enactment of our why i am crazy? >> what did eat you learn about yourself?

>> that is a great question. by the end was civic pride. i realized i am not a soldier. at all. i am 40 years old and passed that stage but i was working on the op-ed about soldiers and the draft and recognized and a.m. nine of those things. i would be a liability to troops in battle. [laughter] i met a vietnam vet. have you changed? he said yes. , i wish we fought to with

the all volunteer army. weber useless. we hear that the civilians don't want to but neither do the military. the debate is going on right now. that is interesting. i don't know if i could live frankly. i don't think i have the fortitude. if i could read another part what i learned about history was the pride that is so important win new study history to terror about where you live and then the

better care we take of it. i should mention the book is not just about military re-enactment i also did civilian re-enactment but mostly on the hobbyist their volunteered not interpreters. those who get paid to do that i wanted to focus on those who invest time and energy and money into the hobby. [inaudible] what makes you think about

making the re-enactment into a book? >> like a movie or tv show? >> i have no talent for those things. i find it hard to collaborate. and it is so daunting for me. but to have a crew but it is beyond my capability. it was not the responsibility those people brought it to it. it would have to be real a

portrait of real people so i felt the book was the best medium. >> was the most common motivation? yours was a curiosity. >> chabad and saying pretty much everybody said they have in common people attract did two into roehm they all believe in the second amendment. [laughter] that is interesting. i like to hear the argument on the left and the right to

whether they fire a weapon or not they stood by that but in terms of motivation, heritage. i embedded with the bassist of the band named loss. he is polish it is the way to honor poland these are not down polish jokes but astoundingly flamboyant dress to calvary and other reasons people get away from modern life and the fascination of military. if people reenacting a

strong military they are events or reservists so the strongest army of world war ii and the civil war is the most popular. of 50,000 people reenacting the people from the south and do it for different reasons than the north lourdes the west. it is a hard answer. >> was it to committed? >> with the historical re-enactment is you have a

couple different ways they are re-enacted. public and private. public happened on american soil and that will have been at to the battle site itself. on the other hand, the roman re-enactment it did not have been here but those foreign reenactments but also the

audience member. they called it a period rush. i was there. i really got hit by a rock or the arrow. [laughter] it felt like 1066. there were not to people out there dressed up reminding me of where i was. it does not take long. the stanford experiment where they had guards and prisoners i believe it happened with the students with intellectual rate to or

privileged students and within three days they were beating the crap out of the prisoners. why would that happen? sews along prewar immersed the easier it is to forget to where you are. i use the word fanatical because it is like we eat only the food they ate in rome. a mediterranean cuisine has not changed. grapes. wind. salami. [laughter] perfect. >> what is the easiest aspect. >> methane was easy.

[laughter] nobody teaches you how to write 87,438 word book the longest in and had ever written was 2,000 words. i hope and it will be excerpt to say that needs to be cut. it was a learning process for me. it is like sculpting you have your material some other sculptor shapes it another way. one of the hardest thing this is what do i leave out?

it could b-12 volumes by the way i wrote my thesis on it. it was hard what to keep the yen and what to keep out. that first experience i had nothing to compare to. so i would cut staff from earlier chapters i would try to fit that in later. to this day find the same place to go every morning at 8:00 a.m. and right that is ridiculous i wrote to the book on pizzas joins on my lunch break, public transportation, numerous

hotels and las vegas. don't ask. [laughter] i would close the blinds. i find rating to be really, really hard. i hope that you do to. [laughter] when the book came out i read it out loud. that helped me anyplace that felt clunky i cut it out. any of their questions? >> [inaudible] can you call my editor? she asked if i had the audio version.

[laughter] no. unfortunately. >> coming soon? >> i hope so. it would be interesting for you to read it. i think i would enjoy that to and audible form. >> if you agree please raise your hand. [laughter] >> with the reenactments do they have the script? >> no. the roman re-enactment in arkansas built a 26,000 replica of almost two and four watchtowers and caltech house on the hill.

mind-blowing pro they took the scenario very seriously. there was not dialogue but i had no idea what was going on. not a clue. people were speaking half latin in southern accent's. [laughter] i cannot understand that latin standard american accent. they had clearly devised a the scenario list fell to heavily scripted with moments julius ipad killed the celts. one very funny moment i was by a 10 to.

fixing a shoelace. i was by myself. a roman came up and said i have killed him and here is his clothing. i thought there is nobody round. [laughter] they don't know i am in here. script did but i doan know if they rehearsed that but i am an actor. i do it for an audience. said that was the objective.

in and then he read the book and contacted me. three hour facebook friends. he said i killed him. i said yes you did. [laughter] >> can you talk about the interpersonal politics? >> this is a roman by the way and a professor. a lot of the group's have differing opinions. nobody gets paid. there is time commence you need almost like a theater company and a benevolent dictator.

the romans have 25 legions and a day our regional. people do it for different reasons for researching, correcting each other, i was on a few message boards. they would call each other out in the end it is probably good but just because you are into this that does not mean that you agreed weren't the objective but legion six intellectuals and professors another is a rare coin it dealer renowned

around the world. in the south won the chin publicly oriented. so you find they are attracted to a moment of time of for different reasons. >> are any other countries doing this? >> definitely europe. it is a western phenomenon. the only eastern country is japan.

if you are a military power it does not have the connotations as those who were defeated. they do not have an interest to relive at as a hobby. [laughter] it is a western phenomenon. it is popular in england. the civil war re-enactment is very, very popular in england. i think it is the most popular. >> and the recent war is

like afghanistan? >> no. but people are collecting. living history is like show and tell they put out the uniforms and weapons and people start to collect. that was the uniform from 2004. but the most recent and more is vietnam's and i did it reenact that that was the most disturbing. there was stuff that happened there that was quite disturbing for me.

by the end of the book along the way to say is this something you will stick with? the guy was fascinated but i did not think i would continue. but what would i do? what choices what i make? i hope the last chapter reveals my sense of humor but my a civic pride. that is a little difficult because the history is not that long or apparent.

i decided i would walk between the two missions as the spanish friar. something that was ambushed history then do the double take to say this is what was happening 200 years ago. the first order of business was to map of my route. they would call it to the kings highway. i will love to follow in their footsteps but many parts was the 101 freeway.

so by a glut map qwest route to my journey. i entered the two hour dresses and traced the path northwest. the neighborhoods of san marino, south pasadena, ego rock, a glendale, burbank. i looked closer. residential and commercial district, freeway overpasses overpasses, schools, airport s, of blvd and the city's streets of affluent suburbs. it also passed 300 feet from my apartment. i lived in the middle of history. i planned the logistics.

whenever the friars walked between missions soldiers accompanied them and burroughs carried their food. i combined the two and enlisted friends who would not mind carrying a backpack. i paid divided each shift into the 5-mile stretch. wife volunteered to be the first per car was excited. the first re-enactment she had seen me do. for our was happy to share my experience. zero was surprised to find one of my factoids fat rats had infiltrated the mission. so the friars borrowed katz.

i decided to incorporate the episode and the objective. just in case somebody asked me. we headed to toys 'r' us where i bought a stuffed cat. [laughter] and then started to assemble my kids. if you don't look good in what is the point*? somebody would have found a sheep and sowed his own habit i opted to border mine online. even the most imperfect sold can look like perfection. that have it came with our broken belts but figured i would have to go hard-core by decided to shave it.

it sounded like a good lady at the time. my went back to the salon where i got mine not see haircut. the price had risen and already and no longer worked there. to give a visual idea i printed out pages after waiting five minutes, was approached. are you ready? yes. i think. are you? i handed her the images thinking she thought i was a plant from a hidden camera show. she studied them closely.

am walking between the missions. she did not respond. i said i am writing a book and it is the last chapter. i like my hair to much. she looked at my head and then she whispered it is okay. a used to work in a salon in hollywood but when i am dead in her must wear a hat. [laughter] i pulled one out to of my back pocket. it is hard to believe and it was only a polished in 1973 shave being the scope was

meant to resemble the crown of thorns it was not finesse if hideous bald spot. while it took short-time i looked like a cross between june princess -- jim carey and st. francis of assisi. after some time my summoned courage to look in the mirror. i was too shocked to scream or cry. i am sure none of her instructors never asked her to fashion one but it was flawless. she was my st. paul mitchell. i handed hear the mirror and she said now would be a good

time for the hat to. [laughter] i paid her double and slipped outside. i put the key and slowly. then i left on the cap and went to the bathroom but she spotted me. i said just a minute. running to the bathroom. i tried to tidy the stubble. she said i want to see. not now. i am naked. she said we are married. oh no. i figured she needed to see. i said i need to to 80

akamai eight temples. she said oh darling. zero no. i said it will grow back. no, no, no. no, no, no. i told her one day our cats would die. fat it is inevitable. that his emotional and it intelligence started the shower of tears and it was happening again. she said i feel cold. blames standing on the edge of a cliff. it is only one day but then she bolted out of the bathroom. a couple months earlier she had approved it and she knew my haircut was coming but i cannot understand why she was upset.

i did not to recognize the man looking at me in t mirror. he looks like a crazy person. [laughter] i flashback to four to niagara you have to limit first you are a little crazy. i had officially arrived. thank you very much. [applause] >> we're on location at new

york city convention and in midtown manhattamanhatta n. he adds as write-in a novel. give some of your background >> i signed up for the army 1997. i went to iraq i have zero is been a huge reader and writer than realized i had a story to tell. >> host: how long were you in the army? >> eight years total.

>> host:. >> her there is a lot but i liked about it. i learned a lot about myself. >> host: you were iraq? >> 2004/2005. >> host: when you got back what was your life like? >> it is the lack of order and direction. as difficult as life can be it is incredibly simple. you know, what is expected of you. your job is in front of you. go do it. atoll there is free time

bombarded with options, possibilities, stim uli, caller, it is overwhelming. the readjustment period is challenging. especially not knowing what i was supposed to do next. i knew i would get out when i got back. i did not know the next up. >> host: used our daybreak teeing a novel? how do get to it to somebody? >> i started working while i was the undergraduate and and had taken creative writing koses and mostly riding poetry at that time and ended up back graduate

school at is university of texas and showed it to professors. they were encouraging and then one offered to send it to his agent on my behalf. >> host: based on your experiences? >> the circumstances that occur did not happen to me but the emotional core is what i wanted to get out and communicate with those who did not understand. a frequent question i was asked what was it like over there? it is hard to answer. that is what i tried to do.

>> talk about the emotion no collor. >> confusion. you have a job to do. you may not understand the repercussions affecting you down the line, i your family , my mother's heart ship i did not understand until i have matured about what to that year was like for her. not just overseas but the effect on the family. >> host: where does the title come from? >> from a march a traditional army cadence.

anybody in the army i'm sure has heard it. >> host: why is this a novel? >> i think people have talked about the big picture view of iraq and afghanistan but we could tell the individual story. with the emotional life, but that was like coming home, . >> was ptsd an issue for you? >> i don't know. i was never died nosed but it was tough coming back.

a bigger challenge than i thought. i expected things to be different but i do know that if people had it much worse than i did with experience overseas and coming back if people could raise awareness when they come home they would be grateful for i just graduated it may. >> host: congratulations. as a first-time author what is your experience getting published with fell whole who block? >> it is exciting.

i have a great agent and i feel i have the support system in place. people may have read something i have pretend. >> host: euronext book? >> i and more are less of finished but then will start on my second novel. >> host: based nonmilitary experiences in? >> no. >> host: we are talking with kevin about his new novel the yellow birds coming out in september. . .