Road Work
Among Tyrants, Heroes, Rogues, and Beasts
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Painstakingly reported stories about losers, oddballs and con men” from the #1 New York Times–bestselling journalist and author of Black Hawk Down (The New York Times Book Review).
This riveting anthology collects the most diverse and far-reaching of Mark Bowden’s award-winning nonfiction—“with fascinating features on Norman Mailer, the war against terror, and even a Philadelphia Zoo gorilla, Bowden’s range is broad” (Entertainment Weekly).
Whether traveling to Rhode Island where one of the largest cocaine rings in history is uncovered, or to the Luangwa Valley in Zambia where anti-poachers fight to save the black rhino, Bowden takes us down rough roads previously off-limits: the top-secret world of Guantanamo Bay; Saddam Hussein’s post 9/11 days on the run; a pimp’s inside track on police corruption in Philadelphia; and Al Sharpton’s campaign trail.
Bowden also invites readers along to meet a small-town high school football team, farmers who make bras for cows, the Rocky Balboa statue in Philadelphia, and to see Disney World with a wide-eyed group of terminally ill children.
In Road Work, Mark Bowden “fashion[s] prose that reads like good fiction, with the bonus that his stories are true” (The New York Times Book Review).
“Astute character reading and solid research combine with ingenious and stylish prose: a superior portfolio from a journalist who stays at the top of his game.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Bowden is unlike any other journalist . . . Superb reporting, a fine mind conceiving the story line, and a compelling writing style lead to something approaching immortality.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the bestselling Black Hawk Down, journalist Bowden showed a gift for taking a story and exploring its various avenues, resulting in layered, rich storytelling. Although he doesn't have quite enough room to stretch out with this collection of his short reportage pieces, he still delivers fascinating, and sometimes outsized, slices of life. Bowden has deep affection for detail and character over breaking news or larger issues. For this anthology, he culls mainly from assignments for the Atlantic Monthly, presenting a strong, balanced collection that highlights his formidable writing strengths while accenting his interests. Standout articles include a post-9/11 profile of Saddam Hussein that illuminates the man through details like his wine preference, childhood tattoo and immaculate desk. Other politically inspired pieces, inclusing ones about Bowden's time among American pilots in Afghanistan and his days on the campaign trail with Al Sharpton, are equally fine. But his range isn't confined to politics; Bowden explores high school football, a zoo-dwelling gorilla and the Rocky statue in South Philadelphia. Perhaps the greatest indicator of what makes Bowden so compelling is that an ad for udder supports in a farm publication sends him into the realm of animal husbandry to answer the question, "hy on Earth would a cow need a bra?"
