Road Work

September 20, 2004
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?"

October 1, 2004
Once a football beat writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bowden became an eclectic reporting star with the publication of Black Hawk Down, his you-are-there account of the disastrous 1993 firefight in Somalia that defined the failure of the U.S. humanitarian intervention in that land's horrific civil war. This tome nicely represents his work from the early 1980s to last year. The opening pieces--a profile of Saddam Hussein written shortly before the second Iraq war and a consideration of coercion's edge over to torture in the handling of Al Qaeda detainees--seem destined to be surpassingly valid. While Bowden briefly introduces each article, there is evidence of complacent editing; for instance, it is difficult to believe that he had no time to venture a few words on whether he would alter his essentially supportive gloss on extreme interrogation since disclosure of the Abu Ghraib scandal. Elsewhere, readers will wonder whether Central Falls, RI, stayed heroin-free and whether the Philadelphia Zoo rebuilt the primate house as planned. However, despite its frustrating lack of follow-up, this is a great sample of a politically mainstream but adventurous writer. Recommended for public libraries.--Scott H. Silverman, Bryn Mawr Coll. Lib, PA

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2004
Bowden, author of " Black Hawk Down" and " Killing Pablo," here gathers 19 of his nonfiction periodical pieces, dating as far back as 1980 and as recently as June 2004, culled from the pages of the" Philadelphia Inquirer," " Salon," and " Sports Illustrated." Citing his instinct to "zig when everyone else zags," Bowden offers a solidly written and varied collection, including an absorbing study of Saddam Hussein's rise to power, a look at the century-old high-school football rivalry between two St. Louis suburbs (Webster Groves and Kirkwood), a profile of Reverend Al Sharpton on the 2004 primary trail, a paean to the Great Potato Pickoff Play of 1987, a long " Inquirer" piece on corruption within the Philadelphia police department, a profile of Philadelphia Eagles center Hank Fraley, and Bowden's account of Zambia's illegal rhino trade. Excellent investigative reporting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)