Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade

<p><p>throughout His Career<i> </i>as A Journalist, George Packer Has Always Been Attuned To The Voices And Stories Of Individuals Caught Up In The Big Ideas And Events Of Contemporary History. <i>interesting Times </i>unites Brilliant Investigative Pieces Such As &#8220;betrayed,&#8221; About Iraqi Interpreters, With Personal Essays And Detailed Narratives Of Travels Through War Zones And Failed States. Spanning A Decade That Includes The September 11 Attacks And The Election Of Barack Obama, Packer Brings Insight And Passion To His Accounts Of The War On Terror,iraq, Political Writers, And The 2008 Election. Across These Varied Subjects A Few Keythemes Recur&#58; The Temptations And Dangers Of Idealism; The Moral Complexities Of War And Politics; The American Capacity For Self-blinding And Self-renewal.<p>whether Exploring American Policies In The Wake Of September 11, Tracking A Used T-shirt From New York To Uganda, Or Describing The Ambivalent Response In Appalachia To Obama, These Essays Hold A Mirror Up To Our Own Troubled Times And Showcase Packer&#8217;s Unmistakable Perspective, Which Is At Once Both Wide-angled And Humane.</p><h3>the New York Times - Franklin Foer</h3><p>this Volume Coheres Better Than Most In The Genre. That's Because Packer Has A Far More Coherent Worldview Than Most Reporters&#8230;<i>interesting Times</i> Seems An Inapt Title, Ironic And Detached In Ways That Packer Is Simply Not. But His Is The Good Kind Of Attachment, Self-aware And Self-reflective. He Writes, One Can Only Be Honest About Having A Point Of View While Remaining Open To Aspects Of Reality&#151;the Human Faces And Voices&#151;that Might Demolish It. In His Best Work, Reality Is Haunting, Indeed.</p>