For me, so much of what Tony Horwitz writes is "laugh out loud" funny. I belly-laughed my way through Confederates in the Attic; I chuckled and guffawed around the world with Captain Cook in Blue Latitudes. Baghdad Without A Map has proved to be no exception. The very premise of the book--the travels of a Jewish American in Muslim Middle East--sets the stage for some interesting and humorous moments. And while there are numerous genuinely funny moments, like when Horwitz describes his Nile boat ride as "the calm, contemplative moment I'd hoped for on shore--except that the boat was sinking and the captain was groping my wife," or his experiments with Qat or the "politeness police" who arrest any belly dancer who dares to bare belly, much of my response to this text is not in laughing out loud or chuckling; rather, the humor for me comes from surprise, from disbelief, from horror even. Horwitz describes the poverty, the weaponry, the dysfunction of so much in the Middle East in such a way that I laugh and cringe at the same time. For me, that is the beauty of Tony Horwitz as author - he juxtaposes the mundane and the mayhem, the terrifying and the terrible, and makes us laugh. Quite frankly, the situation in the Middle East is not funny, and given the current American disaster in Iraq, I am not laughing, but I appreciate the wit and humor that Horwitz brings to the text. It is the hope for more humor, for another great one-liner, that helps me to keep reading.
-EBW
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I am also very drawn to this book because of the style of writing Horwitz displays. In America the Middle East is just a forgien cause of fear. Americans don't tend to laugh when they stereo type Muslims as terrorists but instead there is a true hate towards this different culture that is very unknown to the West. Horwitz's ability to bring his own witty humor into "Baghdad Without A Map" allows me to open up my mind to what I am reading. Truthfully, when I began reading I was very presistent on my views of the Middle East because of 9/11 and the little I know about that culture. I cannot lie and say that along with many Americans, I am one who does not think of people in the Middle East as dangerous, somewhat crazy, potential terrorists. Horwitz however, is able to give a unbiased view of his surrondings allowing myself to learn rather than neglect any aspects of the Eastern customs that would allow myself to come to a certain understanding of their lifestyle. Horwitz casually adresses contraversial topics which for a second, allows myself to forget about its actual significane. "Everywhere else, Yemenis carried daggers the way Western men carry wallets." These little euphamisms change the entire tone of the book.
JEH
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