_Naked in Baghdad_ by Anne Garrels
Jul. 15th, 2008 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
semperfionaA few weeks ago, I borrowed an audiobook from the library. As I didn't get around to listening to it in time, and had already renewed it once, I ripped it to mp3's and returned it. Today, I finished listening to it.
Shortest review: Highly recommended.
Short review: A very intimate memoir of her time as an NPR correspondent in Baghdad during the run-up to war, covering the period of October 2002 to May 2003, Naked in Baghdad is by turns poignant, hilarious, endearing, and raw. Her daily experiences lead as well to reminiscences about her previous experiences in places like the Soviet Union. Interspersed with her diary entries are delightful emails from her husband to friends back home describing his view of her experiences.
Five years of hindsight add another layer of meaning to her reports...even before the war the Iraqi citizens she interviewed feared the aftermath of Saddam's ouster. How clearly they saw.
I had already appreciated Anne Garrels' reporting; now I feel like I'd enjoy knowing her as a person.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
reannon, I think this is a journalist you could approve of.
I think this book was very well suited to the audio format, being read by Garrels-the-radio-reporter herself.
Oh, and the title? Very literal. During Saddam's regime, foreign journalists were tightly controlled, and they were required to keep their satellite phones at the Information Ministry. She had managed to sneak hers into her hotel room, but there were constant rumors of security sweeps. Her brilliant plan: to broadcast naked, and if a midnight knock came, to plead "just woke up" and beg a moment to dress, during which she'd be able to hide the satphone.
Shortest review: Highly recommended.
Short review: A very intimate memoir of her time as an NPR correspondent in Baghdad during the run-up to war, covering the period of October 2002 to May 2003, Naked in Baghdad is by turns poignant, hilarious, endearing, and raw. Her daily experiences lead as well to reminiscences about her previous experiences in places like the Soviet Union. Interspersed with her diary entries are delightful emails from her husband to friends back home describing his view of her experiences.
Five years of hindsight add another layer of meaning to her reports...even before the war the Iraqi citizens she interviewed feared the aftermath of Saddam's ouster. How clearly they saw.
I had already appreciated Anne Garrels' reporting; now I feel like I'd enjoy knowing her as a person.
reannon, I think this is a journalist you could approve of.I think this book was very well suited to the audio format, being read by Garrels-the-radio-reporter herself.
Oh, and the title? Very literal. During Saddam's regime, foreign journalists were tightly controlled, and they were required to keep their satellite phones at the Information Ministry. She had managed to sneak hers into her hotel room, but there were constant rumors of security sweeps. Her brilliant plan: to broadcast naked, and if a midnight knock came, to plead "just woke up" and beg a moment to dress, during which she'd be able to hide the satphone.
