If you see the film ‘Jarhead,’ you’ll know that Anthony Swofford had a hard time waiting. The strain of waiting for the Gulf War invasion caused him to attempt suicide, made him shove a loaded gun in a fellow marine’s face, and deepened his lust for blood.

So you can see why I was worried running 15 minutes late for my interview with the author. Would the ticking moments of the clock trigger a stress reaction in Swofford? Would he be irate that he was made to wait? Would I be confronted by the barrel of an M16?

Unlike the man in the movie, upon my arrival, Swofford seemed to have kept his composure. He was settled on the cushioned arm of a sitting chair, his legs crossed. Maybe he learned something about waiting in the desert after all.

A short, stocky man, he stood to shake my hand and smiled through a red beard.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

“You’re my last interview,” he responded.

“That’s good,” I said.

I noticed that not even the presence of a journalist would make him uncomfortable.

Q: What did you like best about the film?
A: A lot of things. Sam Mendes did a good job making a visually stunning film. The settings, especially the deserts, look powerful and stark. It ties into the emotional power of the story. The film did a good job staying honest to the regular soldiers’ stories, showing the pressures they had to go through.

Q: What did you like least about the film?
A: Ooh, well you know what? I didn’t have a least favorite thing about the film.

Q: OK. What was your involvement in the movie?
A: My involvement was very limited. I saw several drafts of Broyles’ script. He’s a very talented writer. I was amazed.

Q: Why didn’t you write the book in chronological order, like it is in the movie?
A: A lot of reasons. To create suspense on some levels. To create tensions in the plot, to create tensions between characters. To show the way I thought about different things at different times throughout my experiences.

Q: How do you think audiences will respond to this movie considering the current conflict in Iraq?
A: Well this isn’t about that conflict. This about the Gulf War.

Q: How did the book come about?
A: What do you mean?

Q: When you were going through the war did you think you would be writing a book? Did it come about years later?
A: Oh OK. The book came about years later. For a long time I suppressed the fact that I was a Marine. I didn’t want people to know me based on that. Then when I began writing seriously, I knew this was something I had to put into a book. Then I was fortunate, and it became the success it did.

Q: If you could have picked anyone to play you, who would it have been?
A: Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s a very intelligent, nuanced actor.