|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HELP | |
|
  $5.60 List price:
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
This title in other formats:The demonic comedy :some detours in the Baghdad of Saddam Husseinby Paul Willia Roberts
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Paul William Roberts first visited Iraq during the Arab summit in 1990. He went back in 1991 during the Gulf War. One of the few Western journalists to get into Iraq, he was arrested by soldiers on the outskirts of Baghdad at the height of the ALLied attack and witnessed the nightmarish effects of the bombing on the city's civilians and infrastructure. In 1995, he received a surprise invitation to the International Babylon Festival and was able to revisit what little was left of Baghdad. Roberts ranges from a Hunter Thompson-like gonzo journalism to skirted historical analysis, untangling the complicated history of Iraq and its neighbors, to intrepid interviews, discussing movies and religion with a frightening array of madmen, from Hussein himself, the man "whose mother looked like Anthony Quinn playing Mother Teresa", to Assad Bayoud al-Tamimi, the less-than-benevolent father figure of the Islamic Jihad. At once chillingly horrifying and hysterically funny, The Demonic Comedy is a unique travel memoir, an eyewitness testament to the horrors of dictatorship and the devastation of war. Review:"Rare is the book both hilarious and painful. Roberts' account of his three journeys to Baghdad blends rapid-fire satire with an eye for the callous, stupid and petty devastations wrought on the Iraqi population by both Saddam Hussein and the United States. This book is by far the most interesting and responsible account of Iraqi life before, during, and after the war. Roberts' sense of the comic is perfect—as when he relates his interview with Saddam after accidentally downing a tablet of Ecstasy. Dark humor follows insight in a book that will undoubtedly become a classic." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review) Book News Annotation:British-born journalist Roberts collects here his interview with the
Iraqi leader while covering the 1990 Arab Summit and accounts his
experience as one of the few journalists to witness the devastation
of civilians during the Gulf War from Baghdad itself, and his return
for the International Babylon Festival in 1995. He draws on
interviews with the US ambassador to argue that the Bush
administration knew that the Iraqis were going to invade Kuwait and
knew what Americans stood to gain by it. His style is often
reminiscent of Hunter Thompson. Some of the material has been
published in Saturday Night (May 1991) and Harper's (1996); the
volume was first published by Stoddart Publishing in Canada in 1997.
Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Description:Includes bibliographical references (p. [287]-288) and index. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might like
Related Aisles
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Don't Miss
