But what he learns of the Army's harsh basic training, designed to break recruits down and train them to kill, appalls him. The potential for losing his life - or his soul - doesn't worry him he knows what he wants and won't be dissuaded.īen Blum, a mathematical prodigy turned writer, regards his popular, athletic cousin with a certain awe. To underline that point, Blum begins his book with the Ranger Creed, with its admonition to "fight harder" than any other soldier and "(n)ever … fail my comrades."Īs his cousin recounts in a narrative that skips around freely in time, Alex spurns higher education to pursue his dream of military service. military - and, in particular, of the elite Army Rangers. While Michael falls prey to the code of the streets, Alex is bewitched by the code of the U.S. Along with race, poverty, fatherlessness, involvement in the drug trade and bad luck, Michael is finally undone by an ill-chosen love.īad company and bad choices also play a role in the downfall of Alex Blum, the Colorado-raised protagonist of "Ranger Games." He was, Ben Blum writes, "the most squeaky-clean, patriotic, rule-respecting kid we knew" - which turns out to be part of the problem. His lover, Bree, is transgender, combining feminine allure with a masculine propensity for jealousy and violence. In prison, Michael falls for a fellow convict. At this point, the story takes an idiosyncratic turn.
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