Naked in Baghdad

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' show more reporting; now I feel like I'd enjoy knowing her as a person.

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. show less

Interesting personal account of a war correspondent before and during the Iraq War from 2002 - 2003.

Garrells is one of NPR's correspondents. Thus she reports on what she has discovered generally three times a day, on National Public Radio. In 2002 she entered Baghdad during the time negotiations on weapons of mass destruction were going on. UN Inspectors are on the ground, trying to obtain the information they need to determine Iraq's compliance with weapons agreements.

Garrells tells us day-to-day details in diary form, notes she took while there, and from time to time she includes copies of emails sent by her husband to friends, reporting on what she has told him (and what he can reveal to others). We learn what it took for her to get show more into the country, to get into a hotel, to use her satellite phone, to get around the city and beyond. She is required to have a "minder" as well as a driver, and is fortunate to be able to get someone she trusts and values as a minder. She calls him Amer. With the drivers she isn't always as lucky. Either way, she has to be careful what she says in the hearing of Iraqi officials or even in their sight.

Her diary entries bring us to Iraq and back home several times (visas generally were good for only ten days and it was tricky to get back in again), and take us through the escalation into war and finally into the thick of it. She tries to get many different points of view, as not all citizens were united in their positions. Yet they had to be careful what they said.

It is a revealing personal account that gave me a different perspective on some aspects of this war. It reinforced some aspects I had learned elsewhere. It also illuminated what it is like to be this type reporter. We may all be grateful that such people exis show less

I began this audio book thinking I would like the subject. I lived through the Iraq war, following it closely before, during and afterward. I was curious to see how NPR would handle the topic. I finished the book liking Anne Garrells and her adoring husband Vint Lawrence. Anne is tough and resourceful, very creative at working around the restrictions of the Iraq police state to get the views of the average Iraq. Vint is clever and provides stay-at-home counterpoint to Anne risky war correspondence.

Anne is relentlessly neutral in her reporting, not partaking in the pro or anti war rhetoric. Rather, she reports on human interest and man on the street viewpoints of the war--a perspective I have not had before, despite my reading on the show more topic.

My major criticism is from the opposite perspective from Anne's: she doesn't provide perspective on why the war happened, the expectations before the war on casualties and the time it would take and what actually happened. She is great at describing what is happening, but doesn't supply cause and effect analysis. She answers how things happened but not why. Despite her engaging personality and that of her husband on the audio book (they read it themselves) and the moving descriptions of the war and its effect upon the Iraqi people, the book comes across as flat and shallow.

One example: when the US troops took Baghdad, a US tank fired at the Palestine hotel where the journalists were staying. Two were killed, and others were injured. Anne was outraged: didn't the tank commander know the journalists were in the hotel? It was in all the news reports. I was stunned: Doesn't Anne know she and the Palestine hotel are in a war zone during a battle? Anything may happen at any time! If the tank felt threatened, the normal course of action is to attack the threat. During a battle, the rule is kill or be killed. There is no thought nor consideration for bystanders. There are no safety zones. I'm sorry for the deaths of the reporters, but I cannot think of a more dangerous place to be than being in Baghdad during an invasion. show less

This is a terrific first-hand account of the United States attack on Baghdad. NPR Correspondent Anne Garrels gives us her story in a journal-style book, which is supplemented with emails from her husband commenting on her activities.

Garrels delivers an interesting view of the conflict, sharing her on-air stories with the readers, as well as her conversations with her drivers and Iraqi officials. I wish that had not waiting so long to read this, but it is still interesting and revealing six years later.

Ann Garrels tells you what she saw and went through in the process of the invasion and occupation of Iraq by US forces. Garrels is literate, informed, cynical and a clear portal to the reality of the occupation.

What stuck with me: I can't say enough great things about this book. I will say that I listened to the audio version, so my take on the book is shaped by listening to Garrels and her husband Vint Lawrence read their respective sections. Both of them have a wonderful way with words, along with just the right touch of sarcasm and irony.

Naked in Baghdad also makes me want to re-learn Russian, which the non-Arabic-speaking Garrels was able to fall back on again and again. Not that I expect to spend a lot of time in countries that were once supported by the Soviet bloc, but you never know.
Where this book is going next: My copy, being audio, isn't going anywhere. But there are two types of people I recommend the book to - those who want to show more read about the Iraq war, and potential journalists.

Makes me want to read: Thomas Ricks' Fiasco has been on my TBR list for a long time, along with Imperial Life in the Emerald City. I also want to read The Punishment of Virtue, another book with an NPR connection.

Makes me want to reread: Noah Adams' All Things Considered. show less

Her accounts, interspersed with her husband's, whom I grew to find irritating and slightly undermining of her. Fine interesting writing by her.