A powerful memoir of a journalist’s experiences in war-torn Iraq.
Nshimiyimana offers an insider’s perspective on the war in Iraq in this debut memoir.
“Arguably, the Mullahs had it coming,” following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the author writes in his introduction. But as a veteran journalist and TV editor for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) working out of the southwest wing of Bush House in London at the time, Nshimiyimana was uniquely positioned to watch a “sleight of hand” within the administration of George W. Bush, whose focus quickly shifted from Afghanistan to Iraq. This memoir, written from the perspective of a self-described “fly-on-the-wall,” reflects on the author’s observations and experiences in Baghdad and London, emphasizing that Iraq was “as much a British affair as it was an American.” While offering readers important context on the war, and backed by a solid bibliography, this is not a narrative or comprehensive survey of the conflict. Nshimiyimana’s deeply personal perspective offers keen insights absent from other reflections on the controversial war; for example, the Rwandan-born author notes how his race, which was “taken for something of a solidarity,” made Iraqi citizens more comfortable speaking with him, believing that he had “no business to do with the invading armies.” The book also offers an insider’s account of a 21st-century newsroom, peeling back the curtain to reveal BBC reporters “feverishly shuttled from one editorial briefing to another” as the organization planned its coverage for the forthcoming war as an “equivalent of the Olympics.” Dedicated to conveying the reality of the war effort as he saw it, and from the perspectives of Iraqi citizens he interviewed, Nshimiyimana delivers a brutal indictment of what he calls America and Britain’s “transgression against the Iraqi people.” The absorbing, occasionally harrowing, prose makes for a compelling read and contains useful guides, such as a timeline of America’s strained relationship with Iraq since the 1990s. Interspersed throughout the text are soul-searching reflections on the ethical responsibilities of journalists, including the author’s own grappling with self-censorship.
A powerful memoir of a journalist’s experiences in war-torn Iraq.Pub Date: Dec. 22, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Haikonic Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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