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cje61202 's review for:
American War
by Omar El Akkad
I learned about this book on the NPR Throughline podcast where they interviewed Omar and I have to say, the book did not disappoint. In the podcast, he describes how "The place is the table, and the tablecloth being laid on top of it is somebody else's story. And all I wanted to do was turn the United States into the table." He resoundingly succeed with that goal. Drawing from his experience as a journalist and real world experiences, he really brought the emotions and the horror home with it taking place in America instead of allowing the events to be forgotten by the next news cycle because they are distant...across oceans to other people. His emphasis of wanting to have basic control over what happens to our lives and how often control is an illusion is captured perfectly in Sarat. She is removed from the only home she knows, placed into a refugee camp and continues to be forced from place to place. As we follow her heartbreaking journey, we see how the damage and trauma she suffers (the massacre at camp patience, waterboarding and forced feedings while in prison, the death of her sister from a drone strike) changes her from being fundamentally good to seeking her form of revenge. And yes, there are overtones from the actual civil war, but as the book says "you fight the war with bullets and the peace with stories". For clarity on those stories, I highly recommend reading "The soul of America" by Jon Meacham.