Customer Reviews

Barefoot in Baghdad: A Story of Identity-My Own and What It Means to Be a Woman in Chaos

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Manal is an American Muslim who follows Muslim traditions and chooses to wear a veil. She seeks out opportunity to return to Iraq, a country she fell in love with years ago and becomes the director of a small organization to assist women in Iraq; the women who are primary breadwinners but unskilled, widows, divorced women, and others.

The story begins with Manal attempting to assist Kalthoum, a 16 year old girl who was married off at the age of 13, raped and abused, and escapes to the streets to become a prostitute. Manal's mission is to find a safe place for this girl before her family claims her and honorably executes her for dirtying their name.

This is a strong beginning and grabs my attention. Unfortunately, there are few things within the pages that hold my attention. Most of the book is Omar telling the reader about the politics of Iraq, including the different organizations and brutally painting the United States soldiers as insensitive and uncouth, describing their poor decisions regarding the war in Iraq, its occupation, and organizations that were wrong. At the same time, Omar contrasts her own work and decisions to live among the Iraqi downtrodden, her embracing of the Iraqi way, her sensitivity and Muslim lifestyle, and occasionally includes a brief story of her work as a humanitarian aid worker.

What disappointed me about this book is that I found Omar's agenda to be splashed on nearly every page that the military was wrong and she wanted nothing to do with them. She was an aid worker and balked at any association. She briefly concedes that life under Saddam Hussein was unbearable and the Iraqi people, particularly the downtrodden, saw the toppling of the old government as a new beginning yet she is relentless in pointing out the wrongness of the war in Iraq. Never does she acknowledge that the work she is able to do is directly related to Saddam's overthrown government. Not only that, but time after time, it is (begrudgingly on her part) through the military that she is often able to break through barriers and dead ends.

I really enjoyed Omar's personal stories that lacked political overtones. I did enjoy understanding more about the culture and the difficulty she had reconciling women given the Iraqi way. I enjoyed the developing relationship between her and one of the Iraqi men. I was bored reading about the organizations she felt were doing nothing or harm to the culture. Although not a fan of the Iraqi occupation, I came away feeling defensive of the U.S. government's military personnel and deeply offended by Omar's dismissal of the sacrifices made by the United States to overturn tyranny.

Despite her family's opposition to Omar's assuming the position of country director in Iraq with Women for Women International, a group that helped female survivors of war to rebuild their lives, she quickly took up the reins of such a position, proving her worth in her many encounters with those women whom she helped free from a life of degradation and fear. The dichotomy of her status, as both Arab and American, born in Saudi Arabia to Palestinian parents and raised in the American South, as a Muslim and a woman, she was in an ideal position to negotiate the hazardous and diverse microcosm of Iraq, still trying to recover from the ravages of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. In this moving memoir, she describes how she was among the first international aid workers to arrive in Baghdad in 2003. Barefoot in Baghdad tells of the two years that she spent working with Iraqi women as they struggled to create a new nation and a new identity for themselves.

Omar describes her daily battle to overcome prejudices in the society, which were present in many forms. She not only had to suppress her own misgivings about having to work sometimes in close conjunction with the US-dominated Coalition Provisional Authority, but also to persuade her Iraqi colleagues of the integrity of her intent. She asks a telling question at the outset of the memoir: "Who was better equipped to adapt within a country experiencing a period of tumultuous change than someone who had been raised with an ever-shifting identity?"

The redemptive nature of this tale, both on a personal and broader societal front, conveys a central message of hope overcoming what might so easily have been a position of despair. The uplifting and youthful approach which Omar takes to her subject matter is as captivating in the fluency and ease of her writing as it is in the way in which she is able to navigate her position among the many diverse segments of Iraqi society. No matter whether you view the US occupation of Iraq as unwarranted or as totally justifiable in terms of their acting as a liberation force, Barefoot in Baghdad should be of interest to you. Giving both an insider's and an outsider's view of the unfolding drama of Iraq, the memoir should prove worthwhile reading for anyone who has a keen interest in developments in the Middle East. [Reviewer for [...]]

I finished Barefoot in Baghdad last night and feel as if I had a very very light meal. The book is similar to a 237 newspaper article. It was interesting, informative, contained likeable characters, but it lacked a grab your guts story line. Yes the woman moved from America to do wonderful world changing selfless work, and she did experience many near misses and the deaths of many friends and colleagues, BUT I didn't really get to know her down deep, and without that, the book just went on until it ended. If you enjoy reading historical or news items about the middle east you may find this pleasant reading, but I love to sink into a book and this one was in shallow water.

this book left me utterly disappointed. there was no fleshing out of omars personal experiences with iraqi women. full of generalities, names of organizations, attempts at success without day to day personalized or detailed obstacles. so many missed oppotunities for one to learn ab out iraqi culture and history because author did not engage the reader with person and circumstance.

I picked this book up just because I thought it would be an interesting read. And, it was. It was a slow start for me, nothing grabbed me and pulled me in, but as I pushed through I ended up enjoying it. I found it very interesting to read about her experience in Iraq, both personal and professional, and this book covers some of both. The tragic events at the end of the novel left me wanting to read more about her friends and family. I just felt this book gave me a tiny view into another world I really knew nothing about, and what it was like to actually live there during the war. This wasn't my favorite book of all time, but I'd recommend it as a good read.

A very well written book. I lived in Iraq for eight years during the time before Saddam and the early days of Saddam when he was the vice president. I left Iraq when I was in my late teens in 1969. I went there again in my fifties as a translator with the US military soon after the fall of Baghdad when the statue of Saddam was brought down and then again when Abu Ghuraib images were released.

While reading each page, I felt as if I was in Iraq itself. A very well written book.

Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.

One reason I found this book interesting was that it provided a potential "Consider This" selection for the eleventh edition of my college textbook COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY (McGraw-Hill, 2012). In my textbook I have a chapter called "Intercultural Communication," and I am always on the lookout for possible "boxed" additions -- that is, sections that provide student readers with additional, insightful, and informative material that enhances, explains, or illustrates what is written in the text.

I have found Omar's explanation of her multiple identities instructive, and the fact that it gave her her "own secret superpower" a useful insight-especially in the variety of different ways she was able to make use of that power.

The second reason I found this book interesting is that I have engaged in a great deal of foreign travel, and Omar's description of and personal insights about Iraq are simply fascinating. Admittedly, many are personal -- and she states that at the outset. But, having lived in Bangladesh for 14 months, I agree and concur with her observations.

The third reason I found this book interesting is found in Omar's stories. They are captivating and heartwrenching, to say the least. The story of the five Iraqi girls inside an American trailer in the Green Zone (pp. 137-163) was especially touching.

The fourth reason this book is interesting is that it (along with a number of other books) well advertises the plight of women in many parts of the world. If you are a woman, and if you want to champion women's rights any place on the planet, this would be a good book to read to establish the foundation for strong arguments and to gather evidence for convincing disputation.

These four reasons alone are sufficient to recommend this book highly. It is interesting, insightful, and captivating.

Take a journey inside Iraq during 2002-2004. See the people, hear from them, observe their struggles. The author writes her memoirs of being on the ground in Iraq, actively helping women rise above terrible situations while the war is waging and while danger was always lurking. This book helped me to get a view into the lives of real Iraqi people. Good reading for cultural learning. Author Manal Omar writes from a perspective not too keen on U.S. occupation in Iraq but acknowledges some of the benefits that came out of it. We all need to be willing to look at the situation with an open mind. Her parents were against her going to Iraq and thought she was out of her mind. Today they must be so proud of her.

I saw the author on a You Tube interview from University of Southern California. I was very impressed with the work Mrs Omar did in Iraq. What impressed me the most about the book is the account of what happened in years of American occupation of Iraq, and the transition to chaos and anarchy.

The destruction of Iraq is beyond comprehension to me. While reading Barefoot in Baghdad I felt I was there. I was able to see the check points of the so called "green zone," the slums and sewers, the dangerous roads, the degradation of humanity. Mrs Omar gave a face for those who worked for a change, for a future. I had no idea that someone as Fern Holland was there, of her work and of her tragic death. Whereas reading about Margaret Hassan it reminded me about the news of her kidnapping and death. I also greatly appreciate the fact that the book is not written from the prospective of the American military, but the average Iraqis. Of those who had families, and needed to live and survive. As sad as the events in the book are, the "undertone" is filled with hope. Hope of a better future and better life for Iraq.

"Walk barefoot and the thorns will hurt you" is an often told proverb of the Iraqi people. As Manal Omar discovers, this proverb is the rule, rather than the exception, in a war torn country ruled mostly by chaos.

Barefoot in Baghdad is Omar's story--funny, tragic and descriptive, as she travels to Iraq with the goal of helping women rebuild their lives. Her unique position as an American Muslim woman of Arab descent and her choice to wear the veil provide her with an understanding and desire as an aid worker to help women rebuild their lives within a country that has lost and is trying to regain its identity.

Disdaining the help of her home country's American soldiers, Omar weaves a story of the hardships, loyalties and sacrifices she and her team must overcome or endure in order to understand the people and places in which they find themselves. Instead of despairing over the conditions, prejudice, and poverty of the country where she has chosen to work, she instills hope in the people she wants to help.

Omar is a fluent and captivating storyteller, and I enjoyed journeying with her as she struggles to find her own identity and to work against a system that is broken and with it, breaking the fabric of women's lives. Her personal stories are heart wrenching or heartwarming, but at times I was a little put off by her political viewpoints and the pictures she draws of the American presence in this country and the local government and agencies she has to deal with.

Never an easy subject to address, the subjugation of proud, intelligent women is a story that must be heard and Barefoot in Baghdad is a story that people should heed. As the proverb states, walking barefoot in Baghdad offers many thorns, but Omar's youth, strength and hope help her carry through, meet her goals, and, unexpectedly, find the love of her life.

by Rhonda Esakov

for Story Circle Book Reviews

reviewing books by, for, and about women