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rockweedreader's review
4.0
As a budding news reporter for my university's paper, I found this book really helpful for future writing. Ayres' stylistic reporting of the war in Iraq, the September 11 attacks and Athrax threats were very vivid. I grew tired of Ayres' incapability at times but he grows into a strong reporter at the end. Really good read.
1347296's review against another edition
2.0
"I wished there was something I could do other than just sit and wait." You could, of course, have stopped thinking about your damned self for twenty five seconds, looked around you, and possibly come up with an insightful book. unfortunately it seems none of this occurred to you.
t_bone's review
2.0
I like books about war and I am coward so I really thought I would enjoy this book, but I gave up half way through (I'm still counting it toward my 2016 book challenge though). There were a few laughs, but not enough for a book meant to be witty. The fact that I did not find it funny kept drawing my attention to the fact that the author said little about the Bush administration and the reasons for the invasion of Iraq. This seemed to me to be the only real act of cowardice Ayres committed. I'm not asking for an entire critique of the war, but a person's feelings about the justness of the war inevitably colour their observation of it. It might have given another avenue to find laughs. Or perhaps attempts at humour should have been abandoned altogether, not because it's always wrong to laugh at awful things, just because the writing was strongest when it was serious. The description of what it was like to be in New York on September 11 was the best part of the book, well at least the half of the book that I actually read (I'm still counting it though!).
ladymirtazapine's review against another edition
4.0
I read this on the recommendation of my boyfriend. I'm not sure what I was expecting, this wasn't quite it. I think I was expecting more of the actual war but more of the book is taken up on how the author ended up in Iraq.
I don't think I'd agree with much of the author's politics, or his views and feelings on the invasion of Iraq specifically, but that hardly matters in the reading of this book. It's not a journalistic account of the Iraq war, 9/11, or anything in any way related to that, it's a memoir. It's entertaining rather than insightful.
It tells the story of how this guy chances his way into a career as a financial journalist, and then accidentally finds himself being sent to cover a war. And it seems the gulf between being a financial reporter and being a war reporter are only slightly narrower than that between being an accountant and being a soldier.
War reporting is something he's definitely not cut out for, although it does appear to cure his generalised anxiety disorder.
I don't think I'd agree with much of the author's politics, or his views and feelings on the invasion of Iraq specifically, but that hardly matters in the reading of this book. It's not a journalistic account of the Iraq war, 9/11, or anything in any way related to that, it's a memoir. It's entertaining rather than insightful.
It tells the story of how this guy chances his way into a career as a financial journalist, and then accidentally finds himself being sent to cover a war. And it seems the gulf between being a financial reporter and being a war reporter are only slightly narrower than that between being an accountant and being a soldier.
War reporting is something he's definitely not cut out for, although it does appear to cure his generalised anxiety disorder.
mitvan's review
3.0
He moans a lot but then he was the Times' Hollywood Reporter..before he got diverted to Iraq. Think of it as the anti-John Simpson.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
5.0
For those expecting an action packed account of the conflict in Iraq, this isn't the book for you. Chris Ayres' reaction to dangerous situations, is exactly that of the average human being, not those of a soldier or heroic figure. The cover would have you believe it's laugh a minute, and whilst there are some rather funny parts, there are also very moving stories, such as his account of 9/11 which brought a tear to my eye.
I think the fact that you know he made it out alive to write the book, means you can easily laugh at some of his experiences which would otherwise be plain scary. I think one reviewer said the stories don't really fit together, but they do as they're all about fear, as you would expect from the title, even the pointless everyday fears and the fear of failure in his career.
I think the fact that you know he made it out alive to write the book, means you can easily laugh at some of his experiences which would otherwise be plain scary. I think one reviewer said the stories don't really fit together, but they do as they're all about fear, as you would expect from the title, even the pointless everyday fears and the fear of failure in his career.
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