Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone Audiobook

" I originally saw this author on the daily show and had meant to read this book a while ago. It details what the situation was like inside the Green Zone during the US occupation of Iraq. The author had fantastic access to the Green Zone, which is where nearly all of the US staff lived during the occupation and rarely ventured outside of it, if at all. If you are interesting in this area, its a great. It focuses on the situation and realities in Iraq, and not nearly as much what was going on in Washington. Components include the occupation team having to deal with looting, running foreign ministries, Bremer's policies, life and attitudes inside the Green Zone, contractors, and more. "

" No writer of fiction could imagine such lunacy! "

" The best book written on the Iraq invasion. Ignore any connection to the later film "Green Zone" "

" I think I've finally read everything except tactical vignettes about the Iraq war. Now that we've finally pulled out, there is a sense of closure but my frustration at the hubris and insanity that led us down this path is never dulled and likely never will be. "

" I still have not finished this book and I don't know if I ever will. It was good, very insightful, however I felt like it was poorly organized....much like the green zone that it describes (so maybe it can't be helped). "

" This book is truly edifying, yet also interesting, and compelling in the same sort of manner as a runaway train. For a reader without much background knowledge of the Middle East, it provides a great introduction with a witty narrative style. If you want to know more about Iraq, and the follies of the post-Sadaam occupation, I highly recommend "Imperial Life in the Emerald City." "

" A fascinating, cringe-inducing account of how political arrogance triumphed over reason in the Bush admin's occupation of Iraq. A must-read to understand what went so terribly wrong. "

" The complete ineptitude of the Bush Administration displayed. Not the greatest writing ever, but important reporting. "

" Started out strong with surprising and woe-inspiring stories of how political appointees really screwed up the inital occupation in Iraq, but then got a little mired in the minutae of bad decisionmaking. Worth a fast read. "

" Needs to be read in High School Government classes. "

" Possibly the most depressing and enlightening book I have ever read. This book tells us all about what went wrong in Iraq, from the perspective of a journalist who was there. Imperial Life in the Emerald City is scathing, clear-eyed, and fair. I only wish it weren't true. "

" This book made me so angry and disgusted with the invasion of Iraq that I couldn't finish it. "

" sad and scary account of everything that went wrong with the Iraq occupation. i don't know what was worse--the bush admin's ego and false assumptions or horrible string of ridiculous hiring choices. "

" It would almost be funny, if it weren't true. Scary, sad, macabre, and impartial to a fault. "

" An inside look of life in the Green Zone. Pretty interesting. "

" I can't imagine a book that paints a more thorough picture of how not to engage in nation building. "

" A heart-breaking, jaw-dropping chronicle of the Iraq debacle from the inside. "

" Well written, if alarming, horrifying, somewhat hilarious. Depressing look at how politics and nepotism hampers effective policy making in one of the most critical areas - war. "

" Republicans are evil and incompetent - oh, wait, I knew that already.... "

" A brilliant and salient look at what happened after the "fall" of Baghdad. It certainly didn't make me feel any better about the situation but I derived hope from the spirit of the Iraqi people the author met along the way. "

" This is an fast read that fully and clearly explains what went wrong after the fall of Sadaam and how we got where we are today. Unfortunately, I kept pausing to close the book and think "you've got to be kidding" after reading about so many of the CPA's stupid missteps. "

" My review of the book and interview with the author was published in Public Administration Review... "

" A great book about how disoriented selections of the USA government were during the Iraq war. "

" Probably the best book besides "The Assassin's Gate" that tells how the Iraq War reconstruction went wrong in the beginning. Captivatingly scary. "

" I enjoyed and found it very informative but it was slow in parts and you had to have a good recall of names to keep track of everyone mentioned. "

" read back to back with Dexter Filkins' The Forever War. this is a great account of the staggering folly of the official occupation of Iraq. "

" Utterly fascinating!!! Anybody who still thinks it was a good idea to invade Iraq NEEDS to read this book. It not only describes in excruciating detail what we've done wrong, but more importantly, how our imperialistic attitudes have stood in the way of any potential progress. "

" very good book. however, it was incredibly frustrating to read as the weaknesses of bureaucracy and brought out into the open. "

" Its depressing topic about a general failure of all humans involved notwithstanding, this book leaves you with an uneasy feeling that it desperately wants you to hate its subject matters. "

" What a fantastic book! The stories of incompetence and "wilful ignorance" couldn't be better stated. Incredible story after story, the real goings on in the Green Zone we never read about otherwise! "

" This book is amazing. It is the story of the occupation of Baghdad after the Americans moved in, written by a Washington Post correspondent. Incredible how inept everyone was and why. Well worth reading. "

" This was a good quick read at work. I am interested to see what the movie is like. The glimpses into life inside the Green Zone is fascinating and eye opening. "

" You won't wonder why Iraq is a mess after this... "

" The Green Zone can be described as Lawrence of Arabia meets Bowfinger, with the open-eyed naivete of a Scooby-Doo episode tossed in for good measure. "

" Amazing by way of horrifying "

" Nice solid story. Nothing to do with the movie really except the basic premise about how messy real life is compared to neat and tidy historical hindsight. Actually the book is more interesting (even without Matt Damon). "

" Exceptional! Details the mess we made of Iraq's infrastructure when we invaded. Reads fast, but very informative. "