NIGHT DRAWS NEAR

As a Lebanese-American, the author's skill in Arabic allows him privileged access in conducting personal interviews about the Iraq War. As a narrator, that same skill inspires confidence because he can pronounce Arabic words and names. His friendships and interviews with Iraqis give this account of the war's milieu a unique political and religious intimacy. However, Shadid hurries his own rich vocabulary and prose, sometimes running three words into one. The rushed narration gives the impression that he's either swallowed too much coffee or must catch a plane. The production deserves a strong thumbs-up for the content, and a marginal thumbs-up for the race to the finish. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]