Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia
by Tony Horwitz
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tony HorwitzEdition: Paperback
Published: 1992-01-01
ISBN: 0452267455
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia
Book Review: Culture Meets Culture
Summary: 4 Stars
BAGHDAD WITHOUT A MAP is a series of articles Tony Horwitz wrote while trying to spark a freelance journalism career in the Middle East. The title is somewhat misleading as the articles cover a wide spectrum of Middle Eastern countries.
Horwitz does not always have an assignment as was the case when he visited Yemen, one of the most unusual countries in the book. Almost everyone in Yemen is high on Qat, a hallucinogenic shrub that the inhabitants chew like tobacco. Horwitz, who's always game for anything, samples the shrub, losing the feeling in his arms and legs when he does.
One of the most enlightening episodes was when Horwitz got an assignment to cover the tanker war on the "Strait of Hoummos." Horwitz hitches a ride on a sixty-foot Bombay boat. On board, Horwitz met the ship's engineer, a man named Jesudasyn "with the unflinching bluntness of a four-year-old." Jesudasyn wanted to know if it was true that men and women lived in America without getting married, and, if so, how could the women still be virgins when they married. In India the woman must be a virgin. They go on to discuss reincarnation and the use of condoms. This conversation goes on for all of two pages, but with culture meeting culture, there was enough material for a book of its own.
Cairo, Egypt, was almost a home base for Horwitz and his wife, noted author Geraldine Brooks. There's a concept called "Malesh" in Egypt, loosely translated to mean "whatever." Even new building in Cairo begin to fall apart almost immediately as there isn't much maintenance. There are constant blackouts and the elevators don't work in the apartment buildings. The idea that you couldn't do anything about these inconveniences anyway was prevalent in Egyptian society. After awhile even Horwitz began to experience "Malesh."
Most of the places Horwitz visited, such as The Sudan and Libya, were pretty desolate places, but then there was the Arab Emirates, one of the richest places on earth where the natives have free health care, free education, and an assurance of a job, if they want one. Guest workers outnumber natives five to one. Dubai's port was "duty free, regulation free, everything free." Compared to The Sudan, Dubai would be Heaven, The Sudan hell.
Tony Horwitz won the Pulitzer for his travelogue style writing. Other writers might emulate his ability to communicate with the native peoples, despite his inability to speak the language in some cases.
Summary of Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia
Horwitz has the touch, the ability to astutely capture the ludicrous essence of an experience while filling in all the pertinent socio-historic details. He chews qat with the Yemenis, plays soccer with the Sudanese Dinka refugees and listens to an endless refrain of "You are the perfume of Iraq, oh Saddam" in Baghdad. Horwitz' eye and wit are equally sharp, and his book is an exceptionally good read.Biographies & Memoirs Books
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