Customer Reviews

Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia

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Some men follow their dreams, some their instincts, some the beat of a private drummer. I had a habit of following my wife.
-Tony Horwitz, Baghdad Without a Map

Tony Horwitz has a pretty good shtick going; he follows his journalist wife (Geraldine Brooks) from assignment to assignment, across
the globe, and then wangles freelance assignments in the new locale. In the meantime, he's produced three excellent books set in these
widely varied ports of call : One for the Road relates his adventures hitchhiking through the Australian Outback; Confederates in the
Attic is a very amusing account of Civil War reenactors in the American South; and Baghdad Without a Map takes him through the
Middle East in the year or so just prior to the 1991 Gulf War.

At a time when all of us are scurrying around trying to figure out what makes the Arab world so much different than the West, Horwitz
is an excellent guide. Whether listening to Egyptians denigrate Gulf Arabs ("The Gulfies had oil but they didn't have a civilization to
rival that of Egyptians, who were tossing up pyramids five thousand years before the Gulfies moved out of goat-hair tents"); getting
whacked on qat, the narcotic leaf that is the national passion of Yemen; or describing the oppressive atmosphere of Iraq--he compares
entering Iraq to "walking through the gate of a maximum-security prison"--Horwitz always manages to both make us laugh and scare the
bejeezus out of us. His portrait of the region is one of unrelenting paranoia on the part of the Islamic world. The title of the book refers
to the fact that no maps are available in Iraq, because Saddam is afraid to share such basic geographic information with potential
enemies (which, of course, includes everyone), and, if that's not enough, even the weather there is classified information.

All of this though is mere prelude to the fascinating, but frightening, closing section of the book, in which Mr. Horwitz and his wife
travel to Iran to attend the funeral of the Ayatollah Khomeni, along with what may well, as he suggests, have been the largest crowd of
people ever assembled in human history. This event turned deadly, with literally millions of crazed mourners crushing each other, then
devolved into bizarre spectacle, with the faithful tearing apart the dead imam's corpse. But even here, with religious frenzy at its worst,
Mr. Horwitz offers this nearly surreal exchange :

One of the demonstrators peeled off to rest by the curb, and I edged over to ask him what the mourners were shouting.

'Death to America,' he said.

'Oh.' I reached for my notebook as self-protection and scribbled the Farsi transliteration : Margbar Omrika.

'You are American?' he asked.

'Yes. A journalist.' I braced myself for a diatribe against the West and its arrogant trumpets.

'I must ask you something,' the man said. 'Have you ever been to Disneyland?'

'As a kid, yes.'

The man nodded, thoughtfully stroking his beard. 'My brother lives in California and has written me about Disneyland,' he
continued. 'It has always been my dream to go there and take my children on the tea-cup ride.'

With that, he rejoined the marchers, raised his fist and yelled 'Death to America!' again.

This kind of great good humor and a genuine affection for the people he meets characterize Mr. Horwitz's writing throughout. But, the
overwhelming sense that he leaves the reader with is that Islam and its adherents face a wrenching restructuring of their closed, corrupt,
and sectarian societies, as they confront a modern world (whose defining features are freedom, pluralism, and openness) for which they
are utterly unprepared.

GRADE : A

Horwitz has delivered another very witty book that also enlightens. I have read his "Confederates in the Attic," an often hilarious writing that delves into the shadow of the Civil War in the current South.

Like "Confederates...," "Baghdad Without a Map" is breezy, funny and illuminating. The author spent three years in the Middle East in the period before the Gulf War. Stationed in Cairo, this free lance writer visited Israel (during the Infatada) Lebanon (during active warfare), Iraq (during its war with Iran), Iran (during Khomeni's funeral), Yemen, the Sudan and The U.A.Emerites and Libya. In each country, he gets off of the beaten track to meet with ordinary people and delve into their daily existence.

What emerges is a picture of life under Islam that as a whole is very much different from that experienced in the West, but one that also varies tremendiously among the individual countries. Each is shaped in a unique way by georgraphy, the relative lunacy of its political autocrats and history. The book serves to highlight some of the difficult problems facing many of the people in the region as well as the basic humanity and hope that can thrive even under trying circumstances.

Horwitz does not laugh at the people he meets, in fact he is quite sympathetic to many of them he becomes acquainted with. However, many of the situations in which they are placed as well as Horwitz's response while diving into very different cultures from his own are often witty and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny in the hands of this skilled observer and writer. This is one of those books that will cause you to chuckle and guffaw even in places of public quiet like the commuter train on which I ride.

His book is fast, very enjoyable and leaves the reader with something of substance after it's finished. A good book.

This was a tough book to put down. 'Baghdad Without Maps' works on many different levels: The author shares with us something of his personal life and the development of his career, in a humorously self-deprecating tone. We learn something of the pack-mentality of war zone journalists, and we learn something of the countries he visits, with the occasional crash-course on a nation's history or political system. All too often with this type of book, I find myself skipping over the boring historical stuff, but here, his writing style is so entertaining, I didn't want to miss a single sentence.

Where Horwitz really shines is his man-on-the-street interviews. He has a knack for recording some real gems of dialogue, such as the Iranian who was chanting 'Death to America,' and then stopped to ask Horwitz for advice on visiting Disneyland. Some might see his approach to the Middle East as negative, but after all, he's a journalist who chases war, so the negative tone isn't very surprising. In most of the countries he visits, Horwitz introduces us to local people that are almost always portrayed in the most sympathetic of tones. The country that comes across worst in this book is Israel, notwithstanding that Horwitz himself is Jewish.

Chapters cover Yemen, the UAE, Egypt, Iraq (he was there during the war with Iran as well the Gulf War), Iran (for Khomeini's funeral), Jordan, Israel, Sudan, and Lebanon. But the most memorable chapter of all is his brief visit to Libya. The only thing missing from this book is maps--only one for the entire book, which is not enough.

Horwitz has a wonderful eye for detail and a broad range of literary references. This is a very enjoyable book that at times packs a whallop, as was the case with his chapters on the Iran-Iraq War. Mostly though Horwitz takes you into the mind of the Arab, as best he can, presenting a broad range of portraits drawn from his experiences in the Middle East.

What I like most is that Horwitz avoids the pitfall of judging the Arabs. Even when meeting Iraqi officials he is careful not to pass judgement but rather assemble as much information as he can, and that was no easy task in this repressive country. He scoots around with an Egyptian friend of his, taking in the panoply of Cairo life. He captures situations well such as a belly-dancing club in Cairo and the variety of Arabs assembled for this rather low grade affair. In Yemen, he takes part in qat sessions and offers notes on the gun trafficking that has made this country into one of the most dangerous places in the world. Horowitz covers a lot of territory and presents it in a way that is immediately accessible to the reader. So refreshing given some of the more pompous books that have come out in recent years such Bernard Lewis's attempts to explain the Arab.

This is the book of a Jewish-American journalist chronicling his travels and work throughout the Middle East for several years. He travels as far west and south as southern Sudan, and as far east as Iran.

The book is crammed full of hilarious quotes by Middle Easterners and Horowitz himself. In his travels Horowitz was told things like "No one makes love to Iraq," and a man at Khomeini's funeral tells him of his desire to visit Disneyland and then resumes a loud chant of "Death to America."

The chapter on Yemen (a country whose culture and habits are virtually unknown to westerners) is absolutely hilarious. Horowitz's recollections of being blitzed on Qat (a green leafy intoxicant that is chewed) are some of the funniest stories I've ever read. Although disturbing, his adventures in a Yemeni weapons market is equally hilarious.

Horowitz has a great sense of humour...and this humour is a tool that must've prevented Horowitz's insanity when dealing with things like lepers in Sudan, gory battlefields during the Iran-Iraq war, enduring a night of shelling in Lebanon or on a lighter note...putting up with EgyptAir's "guaranteed waiting list" plane tickets (where you and a thousand other people hold tickets to get on a 250 seat plane!)

This is not a history book although he includes some history. Its a nice journey of one western man's observations in the Middle East. The surprising thing for me was that despite his being Jewish, he seemed to dislike Israel more than anywhere else he went.

Horowitz is a good journalist and good writer. He knows that perfect combination of things to talk about. Things to make you sad, things to make you laugh, things that scare & depress you. He knows when to tell it like it is, when its okay to report on interesting asides, and when its best to abandon ship (although it took him a long time to learn the lesson of when to leave.)

The book was a fun read, and you can read it fast since most of the time its just observation and the humorous interpretations of a man outside of his culture and "comfort zone." You will find yourself laughing out loud at times. If you have even the slightest desire to travel to the Middle East (which you probably would if this book interests you), then it will make you want to go even more!

This is the second time I will be purchasing Baghdad Without a Map to give as a gift. I have also loaned my copy to several friends, who all loved it.

The book is best categorized as travel writing of the personal journal variety. Horwitz fearlessly puts himself in a variety of dangerous, humorous or interesting situations in places around the Middle East. But it goes beyond some travel journals in its insight into the societies he visits, and the people he meets. It is the sort of personal insight that travelers hope to discover on their travels. The sections on Iran were a revelation to me.

Originally written before the Gulf War, it has a final chapter describing his return after the war. Now the Middle East is in the news again, and although Horwitz didn't travel to Afghanistan, his stories are timely once again. Not to mention that the book is a terrific read. Buy it for yourself or as a gift.

As someone who has lived and worked in several of the countries described in this book, I cannot say enough good things about it. Mr Horrowitz captured the essence of what it's like to live in countries where time has no value and common sense is on a break. In our UN compound in Sudan, we tried to read the chapters about Sudan aloud, but we were laughing so hard, tears came down our eyes. His attempt to travel from Cyprus to Beirut was so honest and poignant. I have made that same journey myself and I can tell you that there was no exaggeration in the frustration and helplessness one feels trying to make it to Beirut, a city that can be so beautiful, yet so leathel. You also have to read his account of his meeting with Khaddafi, a meeting that turned into a circus, again quite typical of the crazy colonel who rules Lybia. Those who have been to the Middle East will just looove this book and find it hilarious. Those who are unfamiliar with this region ought to purchase a copy, fasten their seat belt and prepare for an unforgettable ride, filled with humor and contradiction. The Middle East is a crazy place and this book truly captured that, with no judgment and a lot of heart.

A highly informative and enjoyable book on one of the most volatile regions of the world. The author successfully describes Mid-East culture, not by quoting long dead historians or re-hashing other people research, but by visiting the region first hand. When the author visits a country he does not simply reserve a room at the local Sheraton and report from the hotel bar, like so many foreign correspondents. Instead, he moves out into the street, befriends locals, and stays in their hotels and eats where they eat. The author does not claim to be an academic expert on Arab culture, but I believe this frees him to make observations that are not weighed down by academic requirements. The author's sense of humor is an added bonus. While the book was written over 10 years ago, it still holds up well. This book is more than a travel book, it is a first rate description of Arab culture from the gritty streets of the Middle East.

Tony Horwitz' adventures in the Arab countries are told with such humor that it is impossible to put the book down. He describes customs through the eyes of someone who has no idea what's coming his way and takes all his misadventures in stride. Everyone who has - or doesn't have - interest in that part of the world should read this book and learn from it, especially now that the United States is entrenched in war and reconstruction in several countries. Generally, we think we can understand the Arab cultures by acknowledging that there are different ways of dressing and different foods. Most people don't grasp the very fundamental differences that set us at odds with people from that part of the world. Horwitz bridges that gap with humor and insight. My favorite chapters are those about Yemen, the birthland of Osama Bin Laden. No one should ever be tempted to measure that beautiful land by the standards of the Western world.

This book is a fabulous read.

This is perhaps the funniest travelogue since S.J. Perelman was writing. Perelman, however, populated his travel pieces with fictitious characters and situations, whereas Horwitz needs not invent a thing. From his perspective, the variety of people, climates, and pressures in the middle-east are themselves a rich vein of humor and fascination. Despite the laughter, this is also a serious recording of Horwitz's experience travelling across arabia: he views bodies in the Iraq-Iran war and explores Orwellian Baghdad; he crosses from Jordan to Israel; he attends what passes as a press conference with Qaddafi in Libya; he visits a weapons merchant in Yemen and haggles; and he spends time in the astonishing Khartoum, though while he's there what he thinks about mainly is how to get out of there. (His visit to the Khartoum zoo is one of the funniest episodes in the book.)

This is highly recommended for its entertainment value and cultural interest. It is not a history or an analysis of the middle-east.