An Affirming Flame: Meditations on Life and Politics

New York Times journalist Cohen (The Girl from Human Street) gathers in this erudite and incisive collection columns written from 2005 to 2020 for the paper’s international and domestic editions. Enriched by Cohen’s background as a foreign correspondent, highlights include an interview with former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić (who expresses indifference to the atrocities committed under his watch) that is interwoven with stunning vignettes capturing the Bosnian War’s human toll: “When you say you are just a journalist, an observer, I understand you but I still hate you,” one woman tells Cohen. Elsewhere, Cohen observes women leading protests against a disputed election in Iran in 2009 (“For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on”); analyzes how warnings from leading politicians and international corporations that Brexit would have “dire consequences” on England only “goaded a mood of defiant anger against those very elites”; and interviews asylum seekers in El Paso ahead of a 2019 Trump rally there (“Trump calls us killers, delinquents, and drug dealers,” says a 43-year-old mother from southwestern Mexico. “In fact, that is exactly what we’re fleeing from!”). Similarly incisive quotes litter the collection, highlighting Cohen’s skills as an observer and demystifier of complex geopolitical events. The result is a master class in opinion writing. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM Partners. (Feb.)