Mehrsa's Reviews > Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam

If I had stopped this book midway or threw it against a wall (which was impossible because I was listening to it), I would have given it one star. However, the second half sort of redeems the massive deception at the core of this book. Sort of.

Ms. Salbi has had a tough life--two failed marriage, including spousal abuse, her parents' divorce, and the trauma of immigration. But her family made a choice to abet and uphold Saddam Hussein. And I get that it was tough to be in his inner circle and that her immense privileges came at a cost--such as pride and dignity for her parents. I also get that she did not make the choice. But the costs of Saddam Hussen's reign were not born by the likes of Salbi's family. Her privileges were purchased by the blood of thousands. And no, it's not her fault. But what how would we treat a memoir of a person in Hitler's inner circle? Not as well as this one. I was on the other side of those bombs during the war. A lot of innocent people died at his hands. And so I am not all that interested in Salbi being uncomfortable around Saddam's daughters and their fashionable clothes.

The second half of the book, her immigration to America and her activism are well told. And at the very end of the book she drops a line about how she was privileged etc, but you don't get the sense that she believes. If she has humanized Iraqis for Americans (which her many TV appearances seem to indicate), that's great. But she is not a typical face of Iraq. She's western educated, secular, and wealthy. It's easy to feel bad for her because she shares more with wealthy Americans than Iraqis. But Oprah's gotta Oprah.