The Sand Cafe
Neil MacFarquhar, . . Public Affairs, $26 (375pp) ISBN 978-1-58648-368-5
The frustrations and follies of contemporary war reporting are skewered in this jaundiced, juicy dispatch, datelined Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War. Sent to cover the story of a lifetime, wire service reporter Angus Dalziel finds himself with a view mainly of his hotel room. Harassed by Saudi officialdom, stifled and spoon-fed by U.S. Army press minders, Angus struggles to unearth real stories about military corruption, the repressive Saudi society America is defending and front-line reverses once the longed-for fighting begins. Watching his comrades veer between frenzy and torpor in their media bubble, Angus ponders the rot at the heart of journalism—especially the shallowness and vanity of television correspondents, one of whom uses up his tent mates' precious drinking water to shampoo his hair. First-time novelist and
Reviewed on: 01/16/2006
Genre: Fiction
Open Ebook - 385 pages - 978-1-58648-600-6
Paperback - 375 pages - 978-1-58648-434-7