Rating: 
Summary: Hot and Cold
Review: First of all, whether I agree with Anne Garrels' perspective of how President George W. Bush and his administration prepared for post-war Iraq is not as important as giving this woman credit for chasing after the REAL story in Iraq. I am a staunch conservative and a huge George W. Bush supporter, but I also believe liberal-leaning journalists make an effort to tell both sides of any story; they just tell one of those sides a little stronger, that's all.
Anne Garrels is a courageous woman, no doubt. She is committed to her work, and I learned a great deal from reading her book. I have a much better understanding as to why the average Iraqi sees the U.S. occupation as a bad thing. I have also learned a great deal about propaganda and how Saddam used it before, during, and after the war to influence people who actually wished the dictator was gone. Iraq is definitely a complex mix, not easily summed up by any one point of view. Mrs. Garrels does a great job of giving us many different perspectives from different Iraqi citizens.
I did find a few places in the book where some cheap shots at the Bush administration were thrown into the reporting, but I expected that, so it didn't hurt my overall opinion of the book.
Need an example? Okay. Anne Garrels' was quick to criticize the president for not securing the Iraqi museum when we invaded. We now know that the museum was raided long before American troops could have secured it. I doubt Mrs. Garrells knew the true facts before she finished her book, but I felt like she was all to happy to bash the president when the chances came about.
To Garrels credit, she described the brutality of the Saddam regime very poignantly in this book. Garrels is also very good at describing her surroundings and the people she met in Iraq. I felt like I was walking the steets, riding in the cars, and hanging out in the hotel right along with her.
Her e-mail updates from her husband to their friends was a nice touch; it reminded me that liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, rich or poor, we all have loved ones who we want to see return safely to us.
I think most people trying to find out more how this war came about, how it might end, and how historians will see it a hundred years from now will enjoy this book.
See ya next review!
Dan Blankenship
author of THE RUNNING GIRL
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling Personal Account Takes You Right There
Review: First off, the few reviews that slam this book for liberal bias, are far more guilty of prejudging than is Garrells; one wonders if they've even read her work. Her portrait of life under Sadam Hussein is sympathetic only to the citizens who live in terror of speaking freely, not of his repressive regime.As mentioned by other reviewers, Garrells really keeps her focus on the the Iraqi's personal experiences and on her own difficulties try to do her job in a corrupt and dangerous enivronment, not on the politics surrounding the war. Before it even starts, both she and the Iraqis seem to view the war as a virtually unavoidable certainty. The book is also a very compelling portrait of what it's like to be an international journalist, specifically a female international journalist. Additionally, Garrells makes compelling comparissions to her experience in Iraq to her experiences covering another repressive regime, the Soviet Union. If I'd read this book when I was in high school, I might have seriously considered a career in internaitonal journalism. While she doesn't make it seem like a glamorous, safe or easy job, it does come across as one of the most challanging and rewarding. Ms. Garrells is a terrific writer, and this nearly contemporaneous account of the build-up to the Iraq invasion helps flesh out the portrait of a time and place on the brink of war.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Personal Account Takes You Right There
Review: First off, the few reviews that slam this book for liberal bias, are far more guilty of prejudging than is Garrells; one wonders if they've even read her work. Her portrait of life under Sadam Hussein is sympathetic only to the citizens who live in terror of speaking freely, not of his repressive regime. As mentioned by other reviewers, Garrells really keeps her focus on the the Iraqi's personal experiences and on her own difficulties try to do her job in a corrupt and dangerous enivronment, not on the politics surrounding the war. Before it even starts, both she and the Iraqis seem to view the war as a virtually unavoidable certainty. The book is also a very compelling portrait of what it's like to be an international journalist, specifically a female international journalist. Additionally, Garrells makes compelling comparissions to her experience in Iraq to her experiences covering another repressive regime, the Soviet Union. If I'd read this book when I was in high school, I might have seriously considered a career in internaitonal journalism. While she doesn't make it seem like a glamorous, safe or easy job, it does come across as one of the most challanging and rewarding. Ms. Garrells is a terrific writer, and this nearly contemporaneous account of the build-up to the Iraq invasion helps flesh out the portrait of a time and place on the brink of war.
Rating:
Summary: Like a painting
Review: Her descriptions are beautiful, like a painting. I have watched the news, read countless articles in the newspaper and news magazines, but this is the first thing I've encountered that actually gave me a picture of what it was like to be in Iraq as an American or to be an average Iraqi citizen. She is amazingly neutral politically. She simply reports what she sees with very little bias. Some of her observations would probably delight the pro-war group; other observations seem to support the opposite camp. I think that is what I enjoyed about this book so much. She examines, unflinchingly, a complex situation that is not black and white, but very very grey. She wades through the murkiness that is Iraq much like a photographer, except she captures pictures with words. The title is quite fitting. Her book is "naked" in its reflection, stripped of the rhetoric and commentary that clouds a lot of works. It reads like a travel book really -- with letters from her husband interspersed throughout -- except her accounts of her travels are not pleasurable in the usual sense. Her journeys are harrowing, insightful, poignant, convoluted, memorable. I found the accounts of other reporters, like Geraldo Rivera, to be equally riveting. A great book! I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Book
Review: Here is a book that gives us much of the background behind Anne Garrels time in Baghdad. It takes us in chronological order through the evnts of the war with Iraq and her experiences during that time in the city of Baghdad. For anyone who waited expectantly for each day's new report from Anne this book will be a reality checkpoint as what it was like to be there.
Her words are interspersed with emails of her husband, that were mailed to friends and family at that time
Rating:
Summary: An Important Piece of Unbiased Journalism
Review: I learned more about the war in Iraq fron Anne Garrels than I did watching numerous reports from "embedded" reporters. Her report is invaluable and her courage comendable.
Rating:
Summary: Quick, educational read...
Review: I liked the blend of vantage points as Anne Garrells narrates her experiences, with her husband providing color and shedding light his experience with her working on one of the biggest events of the century. Its the first time I feel like I understand the Iraqi point of view, as well as all of the reasons we will continue to have difficulty in helping Iraq become a thriving nation once again...
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: I want more. I cried at the end and was left wanting more. More about Annie's experiences in other parts of the world. More about the people who are now part of her extended family. More about Amer, and how he is doing now. And especially, more of this incredible reporter's insights on Baghdad in the aftermath of the war. I clung to her words during the war as I limited my exposure to what I heard on NPR. It's endearing that she did not (and maybe will never) understand impact she had on those of us who waited daily for her reports. The emails from her husband are a wonderful addition and, at times, provide much needed relief from the intensity of her experience. I have been talking about this book from the minute I opened the cover and have encouraged everyone I know to read it. It's time well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Moving...
Review: I was captivated by Anne Garrels' memoir of her experiences reporting for NPR in Iraq. I couldn't put the book down and didn't want it to end. I admire this woman tremendously. She has so much courage and at the same time is not hardened by the reality of war. The book is honest and well-written. I loved the inclusion of her husband's emails, and was especially moved by the relationship with Amer, her driver. Thank you Anne Garrels for a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating insider's look at the war in Iraq
Review: I'm not good with detail so I will just give my impressions of this book. Normally I have trouble reading non-fiction but I had heard Anne Garrels on NPR and couldn't help being curious about the woman behind the insightful reports from Baghdad. I took "Naked in Baghdad" with me on vacation in Maui and had trouble putting the book down. It was an easy read but not at all fluffy. I was impressed not only by her intelligence and sensitivity as she tried to convey what the situation was like for normal Iraqi citizens, but also her bravery and dedication to her job. I also enjoyed her husband Vint Lawrence's email updates to friends and family, which were both touching and entertaining. The story of her relationship with her driver/translator Amer was also impressive. I am recommending this to all of my friends!
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