Waiting for an Ordinary Day : The Unraveling of Life in Iraq

Since 2003, Iraq’s bloody legacy has been well-documented by journalists, historians, politicians, and others confounded by how Americans were seduced into the war. Yet almost no one has spoken at length to the constituency that represents Iraq’s last best hope for a stable country: its ordinary working and middle class. Farnaz Fassihi, The Wall Street Journal ’s intrepid senior Middle East correspondent, bridges this gap by unveiling an Iraq that has remained largely hidden since the United States declared their “Mission Accomplished.” Fassihi chronicles the experience of the disenfranchised as they come to terms with the realities of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. In an unforgettable portrait of Iraqis whose voices have remained eerily silent—from art gallery owners to clairvoyants, taxi drivers to radicalized teenagers—Fassihi brings to life the very people whose goodwill the U.S. depended upon for a successful occupation. Haunting and lyrical, Waiting for An Ordinary Day tells the long-awaited story of post-occupation Iraq through native eyes. Since 2003, Iraq's bloody legacy has been well-documented by journalists, historians, politicians, and others confounded by how Americans were seduced into the war. Yet almost no one has spoken at length to the constituency that represents Iraq's last best hope for a stable country: its ordinary working and middle class. Farnaz Fassihi, The Wall Street Journal 's intrepid senior Middle East correspondent, bridges this gap by unveiling an Iraq that has remained largely hidden since the United States declared their "Mission Accomplished." Fassihi chronicles the experience of the disenfranchised as they come to terms with the realities of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. In an unforgettable portrait of Iraqis whose voices have remained eerily silent — from art gallery owners to clairvoyants, taxi drivers to radicalized teenagers — Fassihi brings to life the very people whose goodwill the U.S. depended upon for a successful occupation. Haunting and lyrical, Waiting for An Ordinary Day tells the long-awaited story of post-occupation Iraq through native eyes.

a wall Street Journal Correspondent’s Wrenching Portrait Of Ordinary Iraqis, Their Lives Possessed By “the Genie Of Terrorism Chaos And Mayhem” Unleashed By The American Invasion.

the New York Times - Michiko Kakutani

…while [waiting For An Ordinary Day] Retraces Much Ground That Will Be Familiar To Readers Of Earlier Accounts Of The War—most Notably The washington Post Reporter Anthony Shadid's Deeply Affecting 2005 Book, night Draws Near: Iraq's People In The Shadow Of America's War—the Volume's Intimate Portraits Of Ordinary Iraqis, Combined With Its Forthright Account Of What It Was Like To Be A Reporter Covering The War, Leave Us With A Devastating Sense Of The Fallout That The American Invasion And Occupation Have Had On Civilians' Daily Lives.

An Iranian-American journalist chronicles her life in Iraq from 2002 to 2006, discussing her own experiences along with those of the disenfranchised, ordinary people around her who strove to maintain a normal, daily routine against a backdrop of war and upheaval. Foreword Fall 2002 : finding Baghdad April 2003 : the Americans call it the new Iraq, but the Iraqis call it the situation Year 2003 : this isn't the way it was supposed to be E-mail to friends and family, September 2004 Acknowledgments. A Wall Street Journal correspondent's wrenching portrait of ordinary Iraqis, their lives possessed by #x93;the genie of terrorism chaos and mayhem" unleashed by the American invasion