Our Man in Iraq

"Perisic'¿¿s wit is complemented by his insight into the dynamics of human relationships . . . with just the right mixture of perceptiveness, self-deprecation and bathos.'¿¿--Ann Morgan, author of A Year of Reading the World Saddam is a young villager from the outskirts of Basra, named after the president. What can he do? He spreads his hands wide like a scarecrow, and I spread mine too, and we chat like two scarecrows in the field, except there are no crops, no grass, and no birds for us to scare away, only sand and scrap iron, and his village, said Saddam, is in a bad place. So he stuck all his goats in a pickup truck and took to the road like Kerouac, except there'¿¿s no literature here, and no shade. 2003: As Croatia lurches from socialism into globalized capitalism, Toni, a cocky journalist in Zagreb, struggles to balance his fragile career, pushy family, and hotheaded girlfriend. But in a moment of desperation he makes a mistake: volunteering his mentally unsound, Arabic-speaking cousin Boris to report on the Iraq War. As Toni secretly rewrites Boris'¿¿ increasingly incoherent ramblings, his own sense of reality--and reliability--begins to unravel. Best-selling Croatian author Robert Perisichas published award-winning nonfiction, fiction, and poetry titles in his native language. He began writing short stories in the 1990s with a clear anti-war sentiment and is now considered one of the most important writers and journalists in the country. He currently lives in Zagreb, Croatia.

Born in 1969 in Split, Croatia, Robert Perišic has published fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles in his native country, many of which have been translated into other languages. He began writing short stories in the 1990s with a clear anti-war sentiment and quickly became a popular voice among youth against the war as well as earning a reputation as a rising literary talent. Perišic is now considered one of the most important writers and journalists in the country. He currently lives in Zagreb, Croatia.