The Right Book at the Right Time

Title: The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: An American Journalist in Yemen

Author: Steil, Jennifer.

Publisher: Broadway May, 2010

Summary: Journalist Jennfier  Steil,  at the age of 37, unattached and unsatisfied with her work in New York, flew off to Yemen  to teach journalism at the Yemen Observer, an English language newspaper in Sanaa.   The three week position transitioned into a one year stay as she assumed the position of editor, but not the title as it is illegal for foreigners to run a Yemeni newspaper.  

Steil finds herself teaching the importance of accuracy and objectivity in reporting, almost unknown to most of the men who are often busy chewing khat, a legal substance in Yemen, and to the few young women hidden beneath burkas.  Although the staff is receptive to her teaching, there is a clash of cultures as she tries to instill in the men the importance of turning in assignments on time, and must make exceptions for the women who need to be home before dark.  She eventually forms very close friendships with some of the female employees, and even chews khat with the men and their families. 

Needless to say, this is one very adventuresome woman!   Accustomed to hanging out at bars and flirting with strangers in New York, she needs to adjust to life in a poor Islamic society.  And adjust she does –  learning enough Arabic to get around the beautiful city of Sanaa on her own,  sleeping on the floor at times, tasting new foods,  avoiding  the gaze of men on the narrow city streets, and risking danger travelling in the countryside.   This is a book for those who love reading about other cultures.

Recommended by : Paula, Reference Librarian

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Title: Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone

Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Summary: A shocking account of life in Baghdad’s Green Zone, a walled-off enclave of posh villas and sparkling swimming pools that was the headquarters for the American occupation of Iraq. This bubble, cut off from wartime realities had a half-dozen bars stocked with cold beer, a movie theater that screened shoot-em-up films, an all you could eat buffet piled high with pork and a parking lot filled with shiny new SUVs – much of it run by Halliburton. Most Iraqis were barred from entering the Emerald City for fear they would blow it up.

A startling portrait of an Oz-like place.

Who will like this book?: All interested in American foreign policy.

If you like this, try this: Fiasco by Thomas Ricks. Assassin’s Gate by George Packer

Recommended by: Cliff, Reference Librarian.