When she arrived in Iraq in May 2004 as the most junior member of the "Washington Post" bureau staff, Jackie Spinner entered a war zone where tradi...
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Feb 07, 2011
Jackie Skinner was in Iraq recently and was escorted by my daughter in Baghdad so I was curious to read her book. The book was written in 2004 and really I was impressed that it seems more dangerous there now then it was in that year. Jackie's relationships with the translators and fellow Iraq reporters is an intimate human relations portrait. I couldn't help but note that both she and Anderson Cooper, in his book, Dispatches from the Edge" get "hooked" on the war environment a
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Nov 30, 2008
Andrea
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The benefit of reading this book is the culture in a country that we hear so much about. Ms. Spinner wrote wonderfully about the side of this country I wondered about and now understand why Americans are so widely misunderstood and resented.
Feb 07, 2008
Katy
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My sister gave me this book for Christmas because she had read it and loved it. I, too, read and loved it. It's about a young journalist who's covering the Iraq war for a newspaper (can't remember which one). It's a true story which makes it call the more compelling.
The book is not political at all. It's simply her experiences and thoughts about what SHE went through while over there. She talks about feeling hungry, missing family during holidays, becoming family with her transl More...
The book is not political at all. It's simply her experiences and thoughts about what SHE went through while over there. She talks about feeling hungry, missing family during holidays, becoming family with her transl More...
Jan 21, 2009
Sheena
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A heart-wrenching account of a woman's struggles as she tries to survive in a male dominated job while in a male-dominated country. Truly humanizing story of those in Iraq, from all sides and perspectives.
Feb 09, 2008
Margaret
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This book was hardly what you might expect when you learn that it's a journalist's account of her time reporting in Iraq. Jackie is hardworking, down to earth young woman raised in the Midwest and educated at Berkeley, someone who attends church regularly but is also routinely criticized by conservative bloggers for being too liberal in her reporting. First and foremost, though, she's someone dedicated to her vocation and who finds her place in the world in a war zone. I loved that her twin sist
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Jul 20, 2010
Jill
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My cousin Chris recommended this book to me. I really liked it because it gave me a perspective on Iraq that I wouldn't have otherwise. I feel like Spinner (well, both Spinners) were earnest and tough (though I didn't enjoy Jenny's as much as I did Jackie's; they took me out of the narrative a little too much, and how could they not be melodramatic?). The writing had its flaws (a lot of repetition of how the staff felt like family) and the voice seemed young, but I wasn't too put off by the f
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Mar 11, 2009
Stephanie
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If you have gotten so wrapped up in the economy that you have forgotten about the Iraq War you should read this as we are still there.
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Jan 24, 2011
Trace
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This book did make me cry. A wonderful portrait of journalism in Iraq, and how you create a life in the most extraordinary situations.
Oct 15, 2009
Kyra
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I read this book in my book club. Very interesting and incredible book about a woman reporter in Iraq.
May 13, 2008
Stacey
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This is the thing about journalism and writing about it --- most of the time it's ego in the way, or standing in the shadows of it.
The parts where her sister writes of her worries is awfully sappy each and every time.
I would've liked less of Spinner and more of her Iraqi coworkers...they at least are truly interesting.
The parts where her sister writes of her worries is awfully sappy each and every time.
I would've liked less of Spinner and more of her Iraqi coworkers...they at least are truly interesting.
Dec 16, 2009
Jordan
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This was one of the worst war correspondence books I have ever read. Its dispassionate style and frankly boring structure made it hard to get through. It is hard to make something like the Iraq War seem trivial in light of 'the love of two sisters', but the Spinner twins managed to do just that. That is not a compliment.
Sep 07, 2010
Angie
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An interesting book to compare/contrast with Eat Pray Love, recounting the 2004/2005 escalating violence in Iraq as seen from the eyes of a young, female Washington Post reporter.
Dec 16, 2009
Francine
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This book is chick lit meets war stories. It's life in a battle zone from a female perspective, and she's pretty honest about how hard it was. I enjoyed reading it, although I was partially biased because some of what kept me reading was getting the skinny on people from work in the book.
Sep 19, 2007
Amanda
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did make me wonder what i'm doing sitting here just existing, when one could be there living the experience i'm reading about.
but then i remembered that i've grown out of that particular journalistic deathwish period of my life.
but then i remembered that i've grown out of that particular journalistic deathwish period of my life.
Jun 24, 2008
Karen
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A first hand insight into covering the war, from a young woman's perspective. In my reading of this, Jackie Spinner did not let any political biases into her reporting, which is refreshing.
Aug 28, 2010
Melissa
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I really enjoyed the honesty with which Jackie Spinner talks about her time in Iraq and found I had a hard time putting this book down.
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