The Joke’s Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me, by Ralph Steadman.
[rating:5/5]

Ralph Steadman recounts his days illustrating his adventures with Hunter Thompson. It’s very frank:

When I began this book I thought it was going to be a journey of pleasure and warm memories, but as I write I feel more of the icy winds of rejection that were probably there from the beginning. There is a point at which nothing was ever worth the effort, nothing given and nothing taken away. My involvement was nothing more than my own ambition. Quite by chance I became a part of this man’s life, more as an infection than a friend. I fooled myself that there was something in me that he found important. Actually, as time went by, he hated the very idea that something as putrid as a cartoon drawing could ever capture the essence of what it was he was trying to describe. But when I search deep inside myself, grasping at words like air, I believe he may have been right. There was no purpose in my involvement.

To me, Steadman’s work was vital.

Incidentally, the original poster subsequently disappeared – I presumed stolen by a gang of international art thieves. It was, in fact, stolen by Hunter who was often gripped by an insatiable kleptomania. He stole far more of my work than I realized from the offices of Rolling Stone, blaming Jann Wenner whenever something went missing. He did not realize that each time he committed such a felony, he stole a piece of my soul too.

Okay, the book is much more than this, but for some reason I’m left with all of these points. The artist screwed over by the writer, disrespected by the word people. Maybe it’s just me.

I am groaning as I write this piece, that I was systematically screwed over any part of this and other projects I was rightfully entitled to through the years. It was a time of thievery and personal ambition and it has lasted until after Hunter’s death. I simply did not realize that Hunter’s friendship was also a business agreement; he was wise and careful and had surrounded himself with lawyers… and guns and other people’s money. He was much more into deals than personal affection.

With all this said, Steadman remains a true friend to the end. The book isn’t all about Steadman’s treatment at the hands of Hunter.

In the eighties, after The Curse of Lono, Hunter became more circumspect about my involvement in anything to do with Gonzo, as thought the very presence of one of my drawings in a journalistic project of his own represented a serious threat to his domination over the world we had collectively created a decade earlier. My drawings were becoming baggage, best dropped off in some bushy scrub along the trail, halfway across a wilderness, or in a dirty pond along with old bicycle frames and rubber tyres. Writers are like that. Whether they like it or not, whether they attempt to consider themselves actual members of the human race, or chosen spokesmen for life’s underprivileged, winners of prizes or rich and curious seats of learning, I had, as far as he was concerned, exhausted my usefulness. But in his moments of quiet loneliness, I was still there as an integral part of the Gonzo spirit. The poor bastard was as alone as the rest of us when it came to filling a void with what most of us believe the creative spirit to be. These are mere speculations, but even as I write now, in my own chosen loneliness, missing the man like a lost leg, I realize our collaboration was one of those venal necessities I cannot brush aside, and neigther could he.

The Joke’s Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me, by Ralph Steadman.
[rating:5/5]

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa, by Peter Godwin.
[rating:5/5]

Godwin’s story traces his family’s history along with the decay of his native Zimbabwe.

Nearly a thousand white-owned farms have now been invaded by the wovits, but the CFU has told their members to sit tight while they negotiate with Mugabe. The CFU has warned the farmers that any of them named in the media will risk being singled out for reprisals by the government. And the wovits themselves are very hostile to strangers coming onto the farms, especially anyone suspected of being from the media. Photographing farmers is hugely problematic; photographing war vets is almost suicidal. Nonetheless, the New York Times has sent Antonin Kratochvil, a Czech photographer, now a New York resident, to cover this story with me.

Antonin cuts an unlikely figure here. Corpulent and bearded, he speaks American English with a Czech accent. He usually has a cheroot in the side of his mouth and he laughs constantly, a booming rumble that rises from his belly. He is a tropical Santa, able to such the tension from a room. His very strangeness makes him a perfect choice. I collect him from the Meikles Hotel, where he stands waiting on the lion paw-print carpet in his sleeveless khaki camera jacket, his little Leica over one shoulder.

Godwin makes several trips back to Zimbabwe as its economy collapses. Journalists have been banned:

On the drive from the airport I notice new graffiti, “Exodus 20:17,” scrawled on various walls along the way. At a red traffic light a group of ragged, feral children swarm around the car with cupped palms. One small boy comes up to my closed window. When I don’t open it, he wiped his hand across his runny nose and writes on the glass in yellow snot: “help me.”

One more quote with Kratochvil:

At the entrance to their camp I had noticed a fresh grave, and now I ask for a closer look. There is a large cross at the ehad of the grave, and at its base is arranged and MDC T-shirt with a hole burned out where the wearer’s heart would be. One a piece of iron drum they have scrawled the name of the grave’s symbolic occupant, the opposition leader: “Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC.” Above his name they have painted their rallying call: “War Vets Back to War!” Underneath it is written “He will kill the people.”

“MDC, it means Morgan Don’t Come…again!” yells Commander Satan, and he and Muroyi and other men who have been filtering in pound their feet on the grave as they begin to dance around it. So far, Antonin has not revealed his camera, but now I ask if he might photograph the grave, and Satan agrees. But just as Antonin lifts his Leica, Satan suddenly shouts, “Wait! Wait!” Antonin whips down the camera, fearing some sudden irrational countermand, and Satan dashes away. Seconds later, he returns with a broad-brimmed felt hat on his head. Around its crown is a leopard skin band and a large label that reads “The mighty denim VOLO- king of all jeans- designed in Korea.”

Satisfied now with his attire, Comrade Satan strikes a pose at the graveside looking suitably fierce, clenching his fist to the skies.

“Now,” he says to Antonin, “I am ready. You can shoot me.”

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa, by Peter Godwin.
[rating:5/5]

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.
[rating:5/5]

This will easily be the best book I read all year. And I read a lot. Marcus Luttrell tells the story of SEAL Team 10, and you can’t help but be awed by their courage. The story of the SEALs’  heroism is so compelling that even Luttrell’s borderline talk-radio conservative bravado can’t spoil it:

How about when a bunch of guys wearing colored towels around their heads and brandishing AK-47s come charging over the horizon straight toward you? Do you wait for them to start killing your team, or do you mow the bastards down before they get a chance to do so?

That situation might look simple in Washington, where the human rights of terrorists are often given high priority. And I am certain liberal politicians would defend their position to the death. Because everyone knows liberals have never been wrong about anything. You can ask them. Anytime.

The rules of engagement that Luttrell fought under end up forcing he and his team, deep in Taliban country, to make a decision: kill a shepherd who stumbled upon their hiding spot, or let him go and risk being discovered. They let him go and are engaged shortly after:

I fixed my Mark 12 in firing position, pulled my head back a few inches, and looked up the hill. Lined along the top were between eighty and a hundred heavily armed Taliban warriors, each one of them with an AK-47 pointing downward. Some were carrying rocket-propelled grenades. To the right and to the left they were starting to move down our flanks. I knew they could see past me but not at me. They could not have seen Axe or Danny. I was unsure whether they had seen Mikey.

My heart dropped directly into my stomach. And I cursed those f*king goatheards to hell, and myself for not executing them when every military codebook ever written had taught me otherwise. Not to mention my own raging instincts, which had told me to go with Axe and execute them. And let the liberals go to hell in a mule cart, and take with them all of their fucking know-nothing rules of etiquette in war and human rights and whatever other bullsh*t makes ‘em happy. You want to charge us with murder? Well, f*king do it. But at least we’ll be alive to answer it. This way really sucks.

Don’t get caught up in Luttrell’s Texas conservative attitude. This is a book about warriors. What follows is a raging gun battle between the four SEALs and dozens of Taliban fighters:

Danny was saturated in blood, still conscious, still trying to fire his rifle at the enemy. But he was in a facedown position. I told him to take it easy while I turned him over. “C’mon, Dan, we’re gonna be all right,”

He nodded, and I knew he could not speak and would probably never speak again. What I really remember is, he would not let go of his rifle. I raised him by the shoulders and hauled him into an almost sitting position. Then, grasping him under the arms, I started to drag him backward, toward cover. And would you believe, that little iron man opened fire at the enemy once again, almost lying on his back, blasting away up the hill while I kept dragging.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.
[rating:5/5]

Where War Lives, by PaulWatson.
[rating:5/5]

Watson is the Canadian journalist who took the photograph of a Somali mob dragging a US soldier through the streets of Mogadishu during the disastrous Operation Gothic Serpent (Blackhawk Down). The photo won the Pulitzer prize. As he writes of the moment of exposure:

In less than the time it took to breathe, I had to decide whether to steal a dead man’s last shred of dignity. The moment of choice, in the swirl of dust and sweat, hatred and fear, is still trapped in my mind denying me peace: just as I was about to press the shutter on my camera, the world went quiet, everything around me melted into a slow-motion blur, and I heard the voice: If you do this, I will own you forever.

As Watson tries to reconcile the profound effects of his photograph, he recounts experiences covering conflict throughout the world, including Iraq, where he narrowly escapes death by the hands of a mob:

Faces pressed in. Children laughed. Men shouted and spat on me. The image of Cleveland’s body lying in the Mogadishu dirt flashed through my mind, and I wondered: “Is he coming to take me now?” A hand thrust into my pocket and grabbed my cash. Another snatched the lens from the grip of my trembling knees. Like an animal acting on instinct, I focused all my energy into holding on to the cameras…

Following Watson in his quest to make sense of it all, I read this book in one go. To fully understand the impact of his photograph, here’s some boasting by Osama bin Laden (from Watson’s book):

“When tens of your soldiers were killed in minor battles and one America Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu, you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat, and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear.”

Where War Lives, by PaulWatson.
[rating:5/5]

Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America’s War with Militant Islam, by Mark Bowden.
[rating:5/5]

This is a long book, but well worth finishing. An in-depth account of the Iran Hostage Crisis, an understanding of which seems very valuable in today’s climate. Bowden takes you into the minds of the hostages:

Two of the other marines, Billy Gallegos and Rocky Sickmann, played similar games. Gallegos rigged a slingshot out of rubber bands, and he and Stickmann opened their window slightly one night after lights out and shot Geritol tablets at a guard standing outside next to the building’s back wall. When the first pill pinged off a car nearby, the guard jumped. When the next pill hit, convinced he was under attack, he shot off his weapon. Soon there was a small crowd of guards, weapons up, shouting into their radios. Eventually the guards burst into the chancery and searched all the rooms, but the marines had long since closed their window, disassembled the slingshot, and crept back under the covers on their mattresses.

And covers the feelings of the time, in America:

America’s long lack of a military response to Iran’s provocations prompted a popular joke; in which President Carter was visited by the ghost of Theodore Roosevelt, who wondered what was going on in the world.

“The Soviets have invaded Afghanistan,” Carter says.

“Are you retaliating with conventional forces or with nuclear weapons?” Roosevelt askks.

“Uh, neither one,” says Carter. “We’re boycotting the Olympics in Moscow.”

But most interesting to me was getting to know the people who stormed the embassy. Mere students who found themselves on the world stage. Completely naive and ridiculous, with no apparent knowledge of the world outside Iran.

Wound up now, Cooke described the fear he had seen in the eyes of visa applicants who had lined up by the thousands before the embassy seizure to apply for visas to escape Iran. “These were people trying to escape,” he said.

“Tell me there’s a long line outside of the Iranian embassy in Washington of blacks and Indians or Hispanics and whatever, seeking to try to escape the United States in order to come to Iran, you know, for their protection. Well, by God, there was a line half a mile long outside of my embassy the day we opened, of people who were just that. Religious and ethnic minorities trying to escape your government. Real oppression. Firing squads, executions.

As one hostage said to his captors:

“One of the things that I didn’t learn was what you were trying to accomplish,” he said. “You were the first social revolution in history that didn’t have to compromise from the very first moment for lack of money. When you took over, you had all the money you needed to make Iran back into part of the fertile crescent. If you wanted to do reforestation, if you wanted to reinstitute the underground irrigation systems you once had…anything at all. Anything was possible because you had the money, and you threw that away.”

Ebtekar argued that all revolution required a period of cleansing, of wiping away corrupt influences, such as Iran’s ties to the United States.

“All I’ve got to say is that nothing we could have done to you in our wildest dreams is half as bad as what you’ve done to yourselves,” Morefield said. “Your children and your grandchildren are going to curse your name.”

Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America’s War with Militant Islam, by Mark Bowden.
[rating:5/5]