Our Man in Iraq
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The first of Robert Perisic’s novels to be translated into English, Our Man in Iraq gets to the heart of life made and remade by war and serves as an unforgettable introduction to a vibrant voice from Croatia that's filled with characteristic humor and insight.
2003: As Croatia lurches from socialism into globalized capitalism, Toni, a cocky journalist in Zagreb, struggles to balance his fragile career, pushy family, and hotheaded girlfriend. But in a moment of vulnerability he makes a mistake: volunteering his unhinged Arabic–speaking cousin Boris to report on the Iraq War. Boris begins filing Gonzo missives from the conflict zone and Toni decides it is better to secretly rewrite his cousin’s increasingly incoherent ramblings than face up to the truth. But when Boris goes missing, Toni’s own sense of reality—and reliability—begins to unravel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Toni is a journalist trying to keep himself and his relationship together in Croatia. Besides the general anxiety of having watched the "world fall apart" during the war, Toni has also recently sent his cousin, Boris, to Iraq on assignment for his newspaper. When Boris proves himself mentally unfit, Toni begins to file reports under Boris's name ostensibly to save them both, a dubious decision that definitely won't hold. What's most compelling about Perisic's novel are the relentlessly insightful one-liners, offering poignant commentary on the unsettled day-to-day of a society trying to find its footing after devastating violence and in the throes of nascent capitalism. "We were a new society, a society with constantly changing backdrops and new illusions," Toni relates. "The past had been easier, in a way. Now no one assumed responsibility." More challenging is the narrative as a whole, which includes a slew of characters, an interspersed e-mail exchange with Boris, and a generally wretched few days of really bad choices on Toni's part, which become increasingly tough to believe. Overall, though, this smart, cutting book powerfully illustrates the horrible hangover of war.
