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Salam Pax: The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi Paperback – October, 2003

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Salam Pax (Author)
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Salam Pax (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 17 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Grove Press; 1st US Edition edition (October 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0802140440
  • ISBN-13: 978-0802140449
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsSHEER CHUTZPAH AND UNSHACKLED CANDOUR FROM A BEDROOM
By Nearly Nubile on November 9, 2003
Format: Paperback
Blogging is all well and good, but Mr. Pax had a sure-shot sword dangling over his neck if his cloak-and-dagger reportage of Iraq was discovered. With that in mind, it is a marvel enough that this book is in publication.
Armed with an Internet connection and a blogger account, Pax leaves no stone unturned in the unabashed description of the attitude of his friends and family towards the US, but also to Saddam Hussein's Baathist dictatorship. The dominant theme of his caustic blog is a deep mistrust of American motives, and the text veritably seers with subdued anger, but Pax's skepticism is informed by a tenacious Iraqi nationalism.
Like many people potentially affected by wars, I devour a lot of news sources, including political blogs (some more informative than others) but it is usually difficult to see a clear perspective of the people who are physically on the receiving end of enemy scuds unless you live, breathe and sleep in the context of that news.
Pax has done a pretty fascinating job of organizing his book, it is eye-opening! For instance, one big anomaly in global news coverage from CNN/Fox/etc lies in introducing Iraq as this hapless nation fragmented by a bevy of races and religions. Yet Pax strongly argues that following recent protracted hostilities with Iran and Kuwait, Iraq itself has been boasting a very strong nationalistic fabric. I wonder how this glaring reality can escape international scribes?
If only the decision-makers in London and Washington take the time to consult the voice of the people (such as Pax's) before waging full-scale wars, their understanding about the country they are now scampering to control can perhaps be greatly helped.
I highly commend Mr. Pax on his efforts, and wish the best to his book, blog and other activism endeavours. If this thought-provoking, entertaining, and occasionally even infuriating compilation of his blog entries is anything to go by, I surely will be reading more of him!
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5.0 out of 5 starsnot a baathist
By reader on January 28, 2005
Format: Paperback
obviously the individual who wrote a previous review on Pax's baathist links is the type of moron who skips over a books introduction... please take the time to read this excerpt:

"...Those who thought his blog was unduly critical of Iraq's `liberators' made dark insinuations about his parents'

Baathist connections. Eventually Salam blew his top, advising

his detractors to `go play Agatha Christie somewhere else.' His

mother, he said, had been a sociologist at the Ministry of

Education, but had given up her job when she was told she could

not make progress in her career without becoming a Party member.

His father had been an eminent economist, but had made a similar

decision when faced with the same choice. `You are being disrespectful to the people who have put the first copy of George

Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in my hands . . . go fling the rubbish at someone else.'

In fact, the conspiracy theorists' preoccupation with his family's supposed regime connections misses one of the most compelling attributes of Salam's diaries: he directs his vitriol in all directions. In the last days of the war he managed to describe the Fedayeen, the Baathist loyalists mounting a guerilla defence of Baghdad in the space of two paragraphs as `sickos', `chicken s**t' and `creepy f**s'. If he has been less than reverential about Iraq's occupiers,

he has been harder still on their Iraqi critics..."
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5.0 out of 5 starsPeace, please. And Salam for president!
By Raisin Mountaineer on February 3, 2004
Format: Paperback
I've been reading Salam's blog since before the war started, and continue to do so-- he is certainly no "ordinary Iraqi"-- His written English is better than 99% of Americans, his knowledge of Western popular culture is mind-boggling, and his snide digs at posturing of all kinds is world class. His genius brings us the gift of perspective and complexity in a situation reduced by American television to sound bytes and simple images.
Salam shares not only his political views but his opinions on music, pop culture and the absurdities of life in general, with the result that I now have someone in Iraq who I connect with intellectually and emotionally, who I worry about, think of, pray for. Not an American soldier (bless them too), but a citizen of Iraq who wishes for both peace and freedom, and who is deeply ambivalent about what is happening there.
Salam proves the saying that the "pen is mightier than the sword." No "ordinary Iraqi," indeed, but an extraordinary world citizen writing us missives from a surreal position.
Write on, Salam. And be safe.
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5.0 out of 5 starsnext best thing to a trip to Baghdad-and funnier
By Mary L. Kenosian on February 4, 2004
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
What is going on in people's minds while the politicians and leaders use their own peculiar vocabularies to justify whatever?
Salam, thank you, thank you for letting an Iowan get a view without the doublespeak.
Not many people could give the absurdities that end in bombs and invasion the kind of authentic black humor that Salam does. I laughed out loud a lot. The book reminds me of "Catch 22" despite the differences of culture, author's voice, time and place.
Salam is the author with whom I'd most like to have coffee. Or wine-he can pick. I'll pick up the bill.
oh, p.s. for you nitpickers about the title ordinary: If a bomb had killed Salam, I bet his name would have been collateral damage.
read this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsTurns out it is wonderfully fresh and thought provoking

Book was required reading for a class. Turns out it is wonderfully fresh and thought provoking.

Published 2 months ago by Marilynne Durrett-Johnson
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

interesting read

Published on July 15, 2014 by Jill Dennis
5.0 out of 5 starsBerglund Center for Internet Studies Review by Jeffrey Barlow

his book, Salam Pax, is a fascinating example of how the Internet sometimes works to bring ordinary people into sudden prominence and influence. Read more

Published on May 11, 2011 by Berglund Center for Internet Studies
4.0 out of 5 starsThis book inspired me to blog!

I'm not sure where the original copy I bought went to, but I realized I had lost it and had to order a new one. Read more

Published on April 25, 2011 by Zeitouna
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Perspective from a Non-Ordinary Iraqi

An excellent non-strident expression of perspective from a pair of creative and perceptive non-western eyes. Read more

Published on February 5, 2011 by Paul E. Scholte
1.0 out of 5 starsa stero-type baathist

very well expected, the son of his father. read more about Adnan Janabi, under Saddam Oil Bribes.

Published on April 3, 2004
5.0 out of 5 starsRandom threats from an unarmed Iraqi

Salam Pax's book (and indeed his blog too) are very interesting, exciting and funny. His little digs and endless sarcasm are amusing but also get across the message that he dosen't... Read more

Published on March 9, 2004 by P. Vine
1.0 out of 5 starsWas a great blog, crappy book

Salam Pax started out well. Then he got commercialized. The tone of his writing has changed dramatically, and the influence from the anti-war crowd has all but consumed his... Read more

Published on February 5, 2004 by Martlet
5.0 out of 5 starsEveryone ought to read this book!

I just finished this and it is wonderful! Salam not only talks about the devistation of his city and the hopes and fears he has of the future. Read more

Published on February 2, 2004
5.0 out of 5 starsEYE OPENING

This book was an incredible read...very smartly written by an Iraqi during the "liberation". I highly recomend this book to get a different perspective of the war.

Published on February 2, 2004

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