More than any other contemporary collection, this startling work demands a visceral reaction to the agony and horror of the war in Iraq and war in general. The immediacy of Thou Shalt Not Kill Unless Otherwise Instructed calls to mind Wilfred Owen's words, "Above all, I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is war." The main theme of war contrasts with a variety of unconventional observations on the concerns and vicissitudes of everyday life.