1 comments about From Rail-Splitter to Icon: Lincoln's Image in Illustrated Periodicals, 1860-1865.

1. From Rail-Splitter to Icon is a unique and fascinating contribution to our understanding of how Lincoln was judged by the press, both here, North and South, and abroad. Through dogged and meticulous research, Bunker has combed the country for magazines largely judged ephemeral at the time but that now loom large in our understanding of popular culture -- those that featured humor and political cartoons. In this handsome book, he assesses their content and pictures nearly 200 of the Lincoln images under discussion, most of which have never been reprinted. Bunker's book easily surpasses all of the other books devoted to Lincoln in caricature [Walsh. Lincoln and the London Punch (1909); Shaw. A Cartoon History of Abraham Lincoln (1930) (which ends inexplicably in 1861); and Rockwell. Lincoln in Caricature (1946) (which is a book of plates with extended captions)] because Bunker's survey of the field is comprehensive, when the others were selective, and his historical analysis is fully informed by several generations of important Lincoln scholarship. This groundbreaking book is surely a candidate for awards. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying in the New Iraq.

1. Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying In New Iraq is an outstanding book that inspires and educates.
   
   The story centers around the United States' invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein and Ahmad Shawkat, an Iraqi Kurd. Ahmad is an intellectual, a reader, a writer, a husband, and a father. He's had many different ups and downs throughout his life in a country that didn't quite value its intellectuals and often times tried to silence them.
   
   As told by Michael Goldfarb, a British journalist in Iraq to cover the war, the story is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Going behind the scenes, Mr. Goldfarb shows us the life in Iraq from the perspective of a native.
   
   Very few books remain neutral on the subject of Iraq War. Goldfarb manages to do so well. I highly recommend picking this one up.



2. This book is the author's tribute to the late Ahmad Shawkat, a Kurdish translator who worked with Goldfarb when we was covering the war in Iraq for WBUR radio. Goldfarb is a London-based reporter for the American public radio station; he first met Shawkat shortly before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
   
   Goldfarb was more than a man who knew the language. As an intellectual, he had moved in revolutionary circles for many years, agitating against Hussein's government. He had been captured, imprisoned and tortured on a couple of occasions and once even met the dictator. As a Kurd, he rejected the sectarian leanings of many of his people in favor of a single, unified nation. As Goldfarb explains, Ahmad Shawkat was uniquely qualified not only to translate words but to provide context to what the reporter was seeing and hearing on the streets of a new Iraq.
   
   The first section of the book follows the two men together as Goldfarb reports on the war for public radio. (His dispatches can be heard on WBUR's Inside Out web site.) The last section is the story of Shawkat's tragic death at the hands of an assassin and the months after when the author returns to the war-torn country. The middle section, Ahmad's Life, is the author's reconstruction of his translator's story. From his early life as a bookish boy through college and into adulthood, the reader learns to know a man who never stopped searching for the answers in life, and the solutions, whether they be of a political or a religious nature.
   
   Goldfarb's own take on the war in Iraq may surprise some readers. Although he is very critical of the Bush administration's handling of the post-war situation, the author and reporter initially supported U.S. action there in the belief that the Iraqi people could be freed. He and Ahmad speak about this shared belief at length, alternately dreaming of the future and despairing as the country falls into chaos and internal strife in the months after the fall of Saddam's army.
   
   Michael Goldfarb writes about the qualities he looks for in a translator. Often he cannot find all of those things in one person. In Ahmad Shawkat, he finds a scholar, an intellectual, a writer, a patriot and at the end a close friend. It is a remarkable life story which could be difficult to read due to the fact that one knows how it ends. In spite of this, Goldfarb's skill makes for a moving, poignant read from start to finish. Highly recommended.



3. In this book, you will find information about leaders we have heard of. some famous and some infamous. Khomeini Auyatollah, Osama bin Laden, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Jelal Talabani, Kind Faisal I & II, and Saddam Hussein. American generals include Norman Schwarzkopf and General David Petraeus. Theirs is a history of duplicity and violence against others. One of the triumps of the Bush administration's Iraq policy is that "they managed to create an environment in which Americans, rather than being thanked, are more likely to be abducted and decapitated if they walk down a street alone."
   
   Iraq was born in the aftermath of WWI, as the Allies carved up the Ottoman Empire and created the nations of the modern Middle East. The British created an Iraqi government modeled on their own, with a constitutional monarchy established. Faisal I was chosen to be elected the first King, and his relaitonship with T. E. Lawrence is shown in the movie, 'Lawrence of Arabia.'
   
   When wars end, generally the battlefield is cleaned up. After WWII, warships were mothballed and the California desert was filled with old warplanes. That would be a sight to see! When the Cold War was over, USA did nothing to decomission its proxies (tyrants created and sustained in power), and it is now paying the price. In Afghanistan, Taliban and al Qaeda were formed as terrorist groups against their own people.
   
   "Life without problems is not interesting" and "We each have a role to play" introduce you to the integrity and devotion of Ahmad Shawkat to his family and to his country. He felt helpless and told the author, "Only America has the power to do these things." Ahmad looked like someone I know here, Jim Nahmad, always on the prowl to find lost people whom he can help. Ahmad took chances and went into war torn areas, and paid the price, just as America paid for their intervention with the deaths on 9/11/01. If you are a listener to Public Radio, you willl have heard Goldfarb's "Inside Out" program. He won the Edward R. Morrow award for one of his features on Ahmad.
   
   I had a doctor called Ahmed. They said he came to America from India. I once worked as a medical transcriptionist for Dr. Z also from India. I became friends with his sister-in-law who, with her two brothers, attended Vo-Tech when I did. They are secretitive people, innocent in a way about America's abundance, and hire family to work in their offices. Dr. Z. had his connected to the local hospital; on Secretaries Day, even though I was not one of his employees, I was invited to have a meal with them and he told me, "Betty, when I was in school in Chicago, I actually laughed." I would ask sometimes if he ever smiled; his wife was always smiling. The different cultures keep nationalities apart as they feel they cannot trust each other and thus, deception rules. Ahmed is young and agrees that he does not know how to get a specialist, or prescribe the needed medicines. He was personable, but incompetent as a family doctor. He wanted to be a specialist and so charged accordingly.
   
   "Admad began to feel freedom at last with the fall of Saddam. He had a newspaper in which he decried terrorists in his editorials. He as murdered as a result. Goldfarb won the Lowell Thomas award for his report about British Jihad in 2005.



4. Besides being an extremely well-written crash course in what went on in Iraq at the outset of the current war, Michael Goldfarb's superb book describes the beautiful friendship that developed between him & his extraordinary interpreter while Goldfarb was covering the war in Iraq. Goldfarb has been a voice of reason on NPR for many years; anyone familiar with his first rate radio work will easily be able to hear him telling this story -- he writes the way he talks: the voice is engaging, precise & always lucid. He has a gift for describing even the most complicated events in a way that the general reader can readily understand. As engaging & personable as Goldfarb is himself, he never lets you forget that the real hero is Ahmad, an amazingly resilient & likeable fellow -- a man of honor & courage & of incredible personal warmth.
   
   Despite the cruel tribulations recounted in the story, the book is notable for its gladness of spirit -- it isn't grim & forbidding -- quite the contrary: Ahmad's story is a sad one, but the man himself was not a sad person, & certainly not one given to self-pity. He is full of life & enthusiasm & you will be glad to meet him.



5. Of all the articles and books that I've read concerning the modern history of Iraq, none has affected me as much as Michael Goldfarb's wonderful new work. Goldfarb brilliantly interweaves the history of Iraq with life story of his interpreter Ahmad--his suffering, joy, hopes seemingly fulfilled by the fall of Saddam, hopes corroded by the miscalculations and lack of planning by the American government. No matter which side of the Iraqi debate a reader has taken, this is a book that challenges all pre-conceived ideas. Perhaps even more importantly, it is a shattering personal story written with enomrous skill and perception by an exceptional journalist.
   Essential reading.

4 comments about Veronica Guerin: The Life and Death of a Crime Reporter.

1. This is a riveting account of the life and death of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin. Criminals in Ireland had much to fear from the relentless journalist, and despite their increasingly violent attempts to silence her, she refused to back down from their intimidation. I couldn't help but wonder if a public hungry for sensational stories contributed to her unfortunate demise. The cold-blooded murder in broad daylight of Ms Guerin caused a national outrage. The public outcry to the brazen crime brought about much-need reform to Ireland's drug trafficking laws, providing some solace and a reminder that triumph is often borne of tragedy.



2. I have no connection to Ireland or Veronica Guerin, but I was curious to read this book when the movie was announced a few years ago. I actually found it to be quite porrly put together, not quite as balanced as the other reviewer.

   Having little to no knowledge of the situation beyond what O'Reilly provides, I found her purported insights into the media pretty banal. And it is infrequent that I read a journalistic account whose authorial voice I found quite as unlikeable.




3. This book is as good as it gets if you want to know the Veronica Guerin story. It is thoroughly researched, clearly presented, and as balanced as possible under the circumstances. It offers extensive interviews with Jimmy Guerin, Veronica's younger brother, and has good interview material from many others who knew and worked with her, such as Damien Kiberd, former boss and editor of the Sunday Business Post. There was some unfortunate pre-press publicity by the publisher that got up the nose of her employers at the Sunday Independent, and they refused to contribute, as did her husband, so if the book is in any way one-sided, it's simply because the other side (if there can really be such a thing) refused to be interviewed. The Sunday Independent was the paper where she built her reputation as a crusading anti-crime journalist, and was her employer at the time of her death. Others that were working there at the time, notably Eamon Dunphy, did however contribute, and I believe sufficient fact is presented that readers can make their own judgements as to Emily's thesis. She believes that the Sunday Independent, and Veronica herself were largely to blame for her own death. Personally, I don't really see the point of trying to apportion blame, and the only criticism I would have of the book is that it spends a bit too much time obsessed on that issue.

   One of the reasons Veronica's husband was against the book was that he felt it was being written too soon after her death. Given that it was ultimately published nearly two years after the murder, I find that sentiment a bit odd (the Sunday Independent was using her image in its advertising a month after her murder, and the husband apparently had no problem with that). Whatever about the actual date of publication, it was vital to at least do the research as soon as possible, while the facts were fresh in people's minds. To date, no other book I know of has been written about Veronica, apart from one focused more on John Gilligan, the man ultimately blamed for, but not convicted of her murder (he was sentenced to twenty-eight years for importing cannabis - one might be forgiven for suspecting that he was sentenced for the murder regardless of the fact that there was no case strong enough to convict him).

   In my six years in Ireland, I've found Emily O'Reilly to be the most consistently excellent journalist working here today. Her writing is always clear, complete, balanced, and accurate. This (unfortunately) puts her head and shoulders above almost all other journalists working in Ireland, and it's a great loss to Irish journalism that she has recently accepted the post of Information Commissioner and Ombudsman. Veronica appears to have been quite excellent herself, but she died the year before I moved here. It sounds like her talents were rather wasted on the crime journalism, and it's ironic that she in fact began her career with some truly groundbreaking stories on business and politics.




4. This book, I would give, -10 out of 10.Based on sensitivity and fact. It was plain to see that Emily O'Reilly did not like Veronica. Even though Veronica's family and Real Friends asked for nothing to be written, filmed or published in that short space of time she went ahead and did it. I would not advise anybody to buy this book. From knowing Veronica, I do know different. Veroncia would never put her darling cathal at risk. She knew what she was doing bringing him along to a meeting.

   I think it was terribly insensitive of Emily to write this book. Does she have any idea how much it upsetted Veronicas's REAL friends to hear about this book or even read it. I did read it, out of couriosity. To write about a person is one thing, which is easy, but to know the person, love the person, idolise the person is another.....Emily....it was cruel of you to put her real friends through this...just so you could make money from it.

   This my friend, is a horrible thing to do, also, get your facts straight.

No comments about Austin Harrison and the English Review.

5 comments about The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary.

1. I didn't see this book as one that would give me great insight into Hillary Clinton. (I honestly don't think that book exists.) To some extent, it did explain how she won her first Senate race in NY-- by working harder than anyone else in the race, by taking the time to learn what the people of NY cared about and then talking to them about those things.
   
   More importantly, what the book did impart (intentionally, or not) was a valuable look at the press covering Hillary Clinton and why and how they cover her (and other candidates) the way they do. In fact, I think the book is important reading for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of the press corps in a campaign-- who the press likes, who the press hates, and why.



2. I was asked to review this book by a local reading group interested in Women in Politics. I read it, and quite frankly, I got it. Ms. Harpaz, in journalistic fashion, wrote about her journey and her experiences on this campaign trail. That the author had quite a bit of work/life balance issues, and wrote about them in this book, is really the gist of the book and speaks to the core of the Senator's values. Whether Ms. Harpaz intended it or not, the working wife/mother "thing" is something that so many of us women share, but really can't say that we have in common with Senatory Hilary Rodham-Clinton. If you are a big fan of Hilary Clinton and are looking for all you can read, positive, on the current Senator from New York, then this book is not for you. It's far more balanced than that. If you're an open-minded working mother (whether working in or out of the home) and are interested in reading a non-biased, experience based book about Senator Clinton and how her values and ideals fit with yours (or don't), then this book is definitely for you. That Senator Clinton could be a Presidential candidate in 2008, or considered for a seat on the Supreme Court, should be of vast interest to you as a working mother and/or wife.
   
   I didn't think the book was so negative at all, but it did spotlight a the character of the Senator. For those who hated the book, I recommend you read it without personal bias.



3. What was I thinking reading this book? I basically just wanted a humorous and light recount of the race. Do I really care about New York politics, not really, what I am interested in is the detail of Hilary Clinton and her race. What was it like for a First Lady to run for the Senate? What I got was a book that was 1/3 complaining about long work hours, 1/3 complaining about the basics of a campaign and 1/3 complaining about Hilary. This author has every right to write a book as negative as she has about the candidate, but to be fair, I just did not get the level of dislike for Mrs. Clinton from the dust jacket as I did while reading the book. If the dust jacket would have been honist, I never would have bought the book.

   To be honist with you I only completed 2/3 of the book, it got to be so repetitious with the whining and complaining that I had to put it down. I do not know if the author thought it was humorous or if this was just a 300 page diatribe about how this author disliked Hilary. If the purpose of the book was to talk about the author's dislike of Hilary then why did she cover just the minor issues she did? Lets be fair, whether they are fair or not, there are a number of bigger issues one could dredge up ... It just came off as petty. Overall I would not suggest spending the time on this book.




4. This is a book that, although written in a entertaining manner, concentrates on one single issue. Beth Harpaz's. And, as it turns out, she has an issue with one thing in particular--Hillary Clinton. One wonders how she survived so much time on Hillary's campaign--not because of the long hours, not because of the time it took away from her children--but because she seems to despise the Clinton's so much. What I thought was going to be an account of Hillary's run for senate ended up being a useless account of one reporter's problems. Do not buy this book if you want to learn more about Hillary's campaign, although talked about in parts, it is hard to separate from the reporter's whining regarding her balance of work and kids (which, I admit is valid, even while it's not related to what I believe the novel intended to be about), her problem with Hillary's limited access (she has secret service agents following her around 24/7 for god's sake!) and the repetition of Hillary's speeches (which of course she's heard before, but are new to their inteneded audiences.) It seems if Beth Harpaz has such a problem with being a journalist, maybe she shouldn't be one. But if she wants to write a book about Hillary's campaign, then let it be about Hillary's campaign, not a thinly veiled account of how much she dislikes her occupation. We learn nothing new about Hillary, nothing new about any other members of the press--however we do get to learn that Harpaz's kids are potty-trained, like to play ball in the middle of the street, and that they sometimes stay later at Day Care than the other children.



5. Having witnessed and to a very small degree participated in Hillary Clinton's 2000 senate campaign from my perch in Buffalo, I have been looking for a good chronicle and analysis of the experience. After reading both HILLARY'S TURN and THE GIRLS IN THE VAN, I am still looking. THE GIRLS IN THE VAN is breezy and interesting, but it leaves far too much out (especially most of the upstate campaign). Harpaz's book is as much or more about her experience as a reporter than the campaign itself. It wouldn't have taken much effort to turn the book into an argument about...something, but it isn't that either. Consequently, there was surprising little sense of progression for a campaign book - I wasn't looking forward to the next chapter as much as I would have liked to have been.

   Campaigns lend themselves well to stories because the author doesn't need to think much about the beginning, middle and end - those are all unmistakable as the course of events unfolds. The best campaign book I've read recently was the little known, RUNNING WITH THE MACHINE, by Dan Lynch. That seemed to be about something, this one didn't. HILLARY'S TURN captures the spirit of the campaign better, but still misses much of the upstate detail. Perhaps the problem has to do with downstate reporters simply pulling together their notes rather than researching the campaign beyond what they witnessed. That may have been what happened here. There remains a really good book waiting to be written about this campaign.

2 comments about Anchors: Brokaw, Jennings, Rather and the Evening News.

1. I first read this book 9 years ago, after checking it out from the library. I was not disappointed. This is the most detailed, organized, factual, thorough book on the 3 former (I'm still not quite used to referring to them in past tense) network news anchors, who held their positions for over 20 years each. Everything about the 3 of them is covered- their youth, early days in journalism, the stories and headlines they covered, their personal lives, how they each became network anchor, and much more. There are photographs included as well. As the reviewer before me said, it needs to be undated- now more than ever. This is why I also gave it a 4 star rating, instead of 5. If this book is not updated, it is time for a new one to be written. If that happens, I'll be waiting in line to get my copy. In the meanwhile, this is the best book there is on the careers and histories of Brokaw, Jennings, and Rather, and reminds us why their individual legacies, as well as their legacy as a whole, will continue to live on.



2. This book follows various major news stories from a presidential summit in Malta to the San Francisco earthquake and how the different networks; ABC, CBS, and NBC reported them. It also spends a day with Rather, Jennings, and Brokaw as they gather the news. It provides detailed biographies and looks back at the personalities. There are several pages of photos, including the anchors in their youth. A 5-star review would have been earned had this been more recent. The news stories and techniques seem to be a little behind to our standards. Other wise, a great and informative book.

No comments about Talking Back: ...to Presidents, Dictators, and Other Scoundrels.

No comments about A Drinking Life.

5 comments about American Hostage.

1. His story is well told. I found myself thinking about all the small things that many of us really don't ponder about Iraqi life sitting in our modern homes living our modern lives. That is the true gift that this book gives the reader is its insight in to the struggles of ordinary iraqis that leads them in to taking up arms and doing some of these things that we all here about. My only issue with his story is that he never explains how some one with less connections would fair in his same predicament. I don't think that the story would end quite the same way.



2. I love a good cliché, don't you? "Gripping", "Page turner" and on and on. Of course those terms had an origin once, and that origin reminds us that the terms sometimes have true meaning.
   
   I don't have a lot of time for reading, so I like a book that is episodic in the sense of having small "bites" that may be consumed at leisure - especially in the bathroom. Once there, with nowhere else to go for the moment, reading may proceed until "the work is done". I actually read the entire Bible in that manner.
   
   "Hostage" however presented and interesting contrast - I found myself staying longer and longer after "work", and then, in the end simply took it to my picnic table to finish over lunch.
   
   I am truly thankful for the writers' journalist "chops". Lots of pictorial prose presented in brief sentences and paragraphs. I was able, at least in part, to share the experience with each of them. The alternating chapters construct added enormous power to it.
   
   I am reminded that Hemmingway started out as a journalist too - in a war zone, yet! I do wonder whether the novel form lies in their future.



3. I really loved reading this from start to finish. It is a moving story of journalist and filmmaker Micah Garen who was in Iraq filming a documentary. While finishing up, he was kidnapped by militants in Southern Iraq.
   This is a well written, interesting and powerful book that reveals the details of his work, kidnapping and release. At times, you will definately need some tissues, but overall, you will come away with having read a fascinating (scary at times) book. This is something that should be read by everyone.



4. Most books about the Iraq war are more general in nature, without that personal touch throughout the story. "American Hostage" is not one such book -- instead, Micah Garen and Marie-Helene Carleton tell the world their own personal story, in the middle of Iraq's chaos.
   
   The two were filming a documentary in Iraq, but Micah decided to stay behind and do a few more weeks of camerawork, while Marie-Helene flew ahead to New York. Her last words before leaving were "I love you." That was a good thing, because while trying to photograph a man in a market, Micah is attacked by a mob for being a foreigner.
   
   In the days that follow, Micah and his local guide Amir are kept prisoners, while Marie-Helene anxiously awaits her boyfriend's arrival -- until the morning when Micah's mom calls her, saying that he has gone missing. With little information to go on, Marie-Helene goes on a quest to get her lover back -- even as a radical group threatens to kill him.
   
   The Iraq war has been a political powderkeg ever since it began, but "American Hostage" is one of the rare stories that doesn't really belong to either side of the debate. It's a more intimate story, by people who only wanted to film a documentary.
   
   And as a whole, it's a compelling love story. Not hearts-and-flowers love, but a willingness to go anywhere and do anything to save the person you care for. The story is told from both viewpoints -- Micah's and Marie-Helene's -- both of which are sort of like fleshed-out diary entries, with details of what they saw and felt.
   
   Through their eyes, we get to see the horrible, despairing condition of a prisoner, as well as the desperation of the prisoner's loved ones as they mount a campaign to get him back. Micah is a better writer, getting across his feelings as he wobbles between hope and fear, but Marie-Helene's story is almost as compelling.
   
   Adding to the story is a collection of photographs, including poignant looks at looted museums, frightening rallies, and a look at the "shrines" the families erected as they hoped for Micah's safe release. Finally, there are pics of the families rejoicing as they are reunited with Micah.
   
   A tense, frightening story, "American Hostage" is a true look at modern Iraq in wartime, and a love story with a happy ending. Compelling.



5. Back in 2004, the sight of innocent civilians, including journalists, kidnapped in Iraq became all too common. We saw the horrifying pictures of helpless individuals surrounded by brutal men too cowardly to even show their faces, heard the kidnappers' ridiculous demands, prayed for the victims and their families, and felt a deep sense of outrage and anger at the barbarism of the terrorists. Our hearts went out to those involved, yet the personal reality of such a nightmare situation never really touched us - certainly not in the way it did the victims and their families back home. I pictured grieving families coming together to wait out the ordeal, unable to do anything but hope and pray. The family and friends - and colleagues - of Micah Garen, however, were anything but paralyzed, and that is what makes his story so fascinating. Alongside Garen's experience in captivity, we also have a rundown of the tireless, far-reaching efforts of a small army of supporters, led by his fiance Marie-Helene Carleton.
   
   Both Garen and Carleton had gone to Iraq to shoot a documentary about the widespread looting taking place there, at some of the most significant archaeological sites in the world. Both authors share their experiences in this regard, and it is an important subject - important enough for both of them to risk their lives to document it - but I really don't have enough space to discuss it here. Carleton returned home, but Garen chose to stay two more weeks in order to film the new city guards that were set to begin protecting the site at Umma. Their months-long stay overlapped with the transfer of power to Iraqi authority in mid-2004, which turned out to be a most dangerous time, as fighting broke out between Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and coalition forces. On August 13, Garen and Amir Doshi, his friend and translator, traveled to Nasiriyah, where they were kidnapped from the market place and taken to the office of al-Sadr. From there, they were taken to a remote location in the marshes, their new home a small enclosure surrounded by a wall of date palm fronds jammed down into the earth. This certainly didn't fit my mental image of a hostage cell, but it gave them only the smallest glimmer of hope that they might be able to escape. Garen takes us through the daily routine that soon developed, the conversations he and Amir had with different guards (with different ones seemingly having different agendas), and brings home both the emotional and physical toll their captivity took on both men. All of the doubts, fears, internal debates, and fleeting senses of hopefulness are vividly detailed, giving one at least a sense of what Garen's ordeal must have been like.
   
   Marie-Helene Carleton's story is, in some ways, more gripping and emotional than Garen's. While he at least had a minute-to-minute sense of what was going on, his family and friends started out with nothing more than the nightmarish report of his kidnapping. They had no idea if he was alive or dead, where he might be, or who might be holding him - and the question of the kidnappers' identity was of the utmost importance. It could be a group connected to al-Sadr, looters with a grudge against Garen's journalistic work in Iraq, common criminals, or al Qaeda. If Garen ended up in Zarqawi's hands, there was almost no chance of his coming home alive. Upon learning the horrifying news, Carleton immediately began working for his release. Along with the obligatory calls to government officials, she began reaching out to her own network of contacts both inside and outside of Iraq itself. Within hours, a small army of family and friends were hard at work, contacting anyone who might be able to help and fending off media inquiries left and right. Since they did not know who had taken Garen, they held off going to the media - under some scenarios, a personal plea from the family could be of great help, but in others it could contribute to Garen's death. Their fellow journalists, however, came to their aid in spades, with everyone contacting anyone they thought could help. Their greatest hope was that they could somehow get al-Sadr to release a statement calling for the hostages' release, but al-Sadr was pinned down at the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf at that time. The story of all of this behind-the-scenes work is fascinating and rather amazing, and there's even a twist at the end.
   
   There are additional aspects to this story that I haven't even mentioned. The different goals of the men who held Garen and Doshi in captivity is perhaps the most striking - and revealing as to the nature of this turbulent time in Iraqi history. These men could be cruel, but they were a far cry from the brutal savages I would have assumed them to be. I should also note that there's really no political subtext to be found in this story, nor are there any claims of heroism. Garen, Carleton, and their loved ones truly come across as wonderful human beings, and the story is told in such a way that you feel as if you are witnessing all of these events and emotions first-hand. This is an informative, well-written, emotionally compelling read - and, best of all, it has a happy ending.

No comments about Sometimes I Forgot to Laugh.