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A review by koreilly
The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo by Joe Sacco
4.0
Joe Sacco is an enigma. He is unarguably a journalist, and a great one at that. Traveling to war zones and areas of turmoil to interview people and let them unspool their stories at a slow and even pace. But Sacco doesn't record them with a video camera or even photos he makes photo realistic pictures with just a twinge of Art Spiegelman's Raw in them, creating a sort of twisted reality that fits the usually horrific content of these people's stories.
And Fixer focuses only on a very small group of people and their relation to the Bosnian Crisis of the 90s. The titular character is a washed up soldier who shuttles journalists around for petty cahs and boasts of his time on the front. How much of it is true and how much bullshit to coax extra tips out of an uncomfortable journalist is a source of debate throughout the book, but Sacco treats them with respect and never looks down at his character. If the Fixer is flawed, he is a flawed person who lived through a horrible years-long conflict and that's still a person that Sacco is interested in, and you will be too by the end.
The other stories are just as gripping, with a rock musician, mine-clearer and a trip across the Balkans with some horny CBS Radio journalists on Christmas. If you've already read his fantastic 'Safe-Area Gorazde' then 'The Fixer' is the perfect way to learn more about an area of Europe that was changed forever in three short years.
And Fixer focuses only on a very small group of people and their relation to the Bosnian Crisis of the 90s. The titular character is a washed up soldier who shuttles journalists around for petty cahs and boasts of his time on the front. How much of it is true and how much bullshit to coax extra tips out of an uncomfortable journalist is a source of debate throughout the book, but Sacco treats them with respect and never looks down at his character. If the Fixer is flawed, he is a flawed person who lived through a horrible years-long conflict and that's still a person that Sacco is interested in, and you will be too by the end.
The other stories are just as gripping, with a rock musician, mine-clearer and a trip across the Balkans with some horny CBS Radio journalists on Christmas. If you've already read his fantastic 'Safe-Area Gorazde' then 'The Fixer' is the perfect way to learn more about an area of Europe that was changed forever in three short years.