"Baghdad Without A Map" by Tony Horwitz

Baghdad Without A Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia, by Tony Horwitz, (New York: Plumy by the Penguin Group; 1991), 285 pages. ISBN0-452-26745-5.

In this book, Tony Horwitz, Jewish and American, follows his journalist wife to the Middle East and does some freelance reporting on life in the region. Based in Egypt, he traveled and reported his observations and experiences. His travels took him throughout Egypt and to Sudan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Iran, and a voyage on a small boat through the Straits of Hormuz. The book illustrates everyday life in these places, the difficulties faced by westerners when travelling there, particularly the “culture shock” faced by westerners face when immersing themselves in the comparatively ancient world of the Middle East.

This book’s great strength is its realistic portrait of life in a number of Middle Eastern countries from the perspective of the average Middle Easterner. Horwitz meets the poor; he eats with them and is invited into their homes. He witnesses their struggles with poverty, and difficult challenges with institutions, and poverty in finding a better life for themselves and their children. He is at times humorous, but never makes fun of his hosts. His writing is characterized by sympathizing with them. Horwitz does not mingle with the wealth or privileged or powerful, a thereby gives his book an experienced “on the ground” account of these countries, and not a view from the air-conditioned comfort of a luxury hotel or resort. Therefore, we see how these places work, or more frequently do not work. He shares with us his host's  views of America and Judaism. This makes his travel writing more notable: here is a man who is both Jewish and American travelling through a region hostile to both. We see this hostility expressed in unusual ways. For example, Horwitz manages to enter Iran to report on the funeral of Ayatollah Komanehi. One funeral attendee and anti-American protester proclaims his wish to one day go to Disneyland and ride on the teacup ride with his children, during a break from his chanting “death to America”.

This book has been in print for 21 years, and I suspect that the rich description of Middle Easter life is still accurate today. Life there, I suspect, may not have changed much; only an expert would know. Regimes may have changed in some of the countries, but one expects that the discoveries and observations made by Horwitz are as relevant today as they were when the book was written.

This book is a fine travel memoir, while also being a fine analysis or investigative report of the Middle East. It is a book that will be enjoyed by people interested in the Middle East, lovers of travel writing, or fans of the writing of Tony Horwitz.