Sara Corbett (1)

Two stars because the writing was good. I found the story of this woman frustrating and pitiful. To embark on untethered trips to the most volatile parts of the world was utterly stupid. The fact that she survived and was not murdered is amazing. The fact that she is now cashing in on her ordeal - well good for her, but it's reprehensible that she put herself, Nigel, her family and friends through a 15 month ordeal because she pretended to be a real journalist and photographer. I kept reminding myself it's a memoir, which most of it could be corroborated, some of her story could not.… (more)

I am sure I am going to get negative responses to this review but here goes. This a mediocre book at best. Yes the writing is polished but my guess is the reason for this is the co author, who writes for the New York Times Magazine.
The first 140 odd pages details what a grossly naive person Amanda Lindhout is and her narcissistic belief that she can do anything. She seems to be the one of the highest grossing waitresses on the planet without taking off her clothes, and seems to think that surviving Central and South America was justification for traveling to Pakistan, Afghanistan , and unfortunately for her ultimately Somalia. All this did for me was easily predict how her reckless behavior would end up getting her in trouble. I have seen reviews stating she got what she deserved. This assessment is grossly ignorant. Nobody deserves to be raped and tortured. The problem I had with the book is the first half is boring and as I said easy to see how the second half would play out. Having traveled to Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, and Mexico and Dubai, I have often encountered young travelers who think they can do anything with no repercussions. There is criticism the Canadian and Australian governments were less than effective is securing their release. I think people need to know that if you are going to go to countries that your government highly recommends that you don't, then if something happens to you it is not their job to help you. Other criticisms have pointed out that it seems like she purposely did this to get the fame of a once in a lifetime story, but ended up getting more than she bargained for, I doubt this is the case since it would be a great way to get killed!
The biggest problem for me regarding this book was that after awhile I just didn't care about her or her ex boyfriend's ordeal. If she had a reason to be in Somalia like she was with the UN or a soldier, or with an NCO, I would say she was crazy to be there, but was hopefully briefed on the risks. But because she was either grossly naive and or ignorant, for me did not make this book worth the time I spent reading it.… (more)