War Reporting for Cowards - Couverture souple

Ayres, Chris

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0802142567 ISBN 13 : 9780802142566

Editeur : Black Cat, 2006

Synopsis

Chris Ayres is a small-town boy, a hypochondriac, and a neat freak with an anxiety disorder. Not exactly the picture of a war correspondent. But when his boss asks him if he would like to go to Iraq, he doesn't have the guts to say no. After signing a 1 million dollar life-insurance policy, studying a tutorial on repairing severed limbs, and spending 20 thousand dollars in camping gear (only to find out that his bright yellow tent makes him a sitting duck), Ayres is embedded with a battalion of gung ho Marines who either shun him or threaten him when he files an unfavorable story. As time goes on, though, he begins to understand them (and his inexplicably enthusiastic fellow war reporters) more and more: Each night of terrifying combat brings, in the morning, something more visceral than he has ever experienced -- the thrill of having won a fight for survival.

In the tradition of MASH, Catch-22, and other classics in which irreverence springs from life in extremis, War Reporting for Cowards tells the story of Iraq in a way that is extraordinarily honest, heartfelt, and bitterly hilarious.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

Ayres did a very courageous thing. He decided embedded life wasn't for him and left his embedded position to return home (Chris Cramer, President of CNN International Netwo)

Chris Ayres has invented a new genre: a rip-roaring tale of adventure and derring-don't (Toby Young)

Of the new, or unexpected, stars the war created, my pick would be Chris Ayres, who emerged to become a stunning reporter in Iraq (The Times)

What a snivelling piece of s**t (Operation Freedom)

The most honest rendering we've seen of embedded life, hands down, comes from Chris Ayres (Washington Post)

The better things in the media war [include the] continuing brilliance of brave correspondents such as... Chris Ayres of The Times...' (The Observer)

'[Ayres] has the knack for evoking the weirdness of life on the front line and finding humour in the horror' (Glasgow Herald)

The better things in the media war [include the] continuing brilliance of brave correspondents such as Chris Ayres (Peter Preston, Observer)

Ayres [writes with] engaging honesty (John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor and bestsel)

a memorable new voice (Independent)

'Ayres's book stands out as a new sub-genre. He is disarmingly (pun intended) honest and hilarious about his lack of stomach for the fight' (What's On London)

Présentation de l'éditeur

Chris Ayres is a self-confessed coward, born of a proud line of shirkers and well-versed in taking the cushy option. After a bad start in New York during 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, life seemed to be improving when, as a young reporter, he was promptly promoted to Los Angeles correspondent. The thrill of foreign reporting couched in the comforts of the Golden State. What could go wrong?

But everything goes wrong. One day his boss calls to offer him an assignment as a war reporter, 'embedded' with US Marines on the front line of the Iraq War. Too cowardly to say no, Chris soon finds himself camped in the desert, blinded by sandstorms, caught in the crossfire, surrounded by military machismo on all sides. He decides he wants out - proud to be the first embedded reporter to bottle it. But this, his greatest act of cowardice, will almost kill him...

War Reporting for Cowards is an extraordinary true story and the debut of a brilliant new voice - wry, intelligent, honest and deeply human. Hilarious, like a latter-day Scoop, it offers a seditious insight into the political events that have defined the century.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Black Cat
• Date d'édition: 2006
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0802142567
• ISBN 13: 9780802142566
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible