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Howling in Mesopotamia: An Iraqi-American Memoir
ON JULY 14, 2003, I left Kuwait on a C-130 transport plane bound for Baghdad, the city of my ancestors and a place I had not been for thirteen years. Two nations could legitimately claim me as their native son. The first was the United States, where I was born and raised. The second was Iraq.So begins this groundbreaking memoir of hope and hardship. Hamoudi spent two years living in Iraq outside the relative safety of the Green Zone working to help rebuild a country he loves.The intimate stories he shares-from the momentous day Saddam Hussein's sons were killed, to the tragic killing of hundreds of civilians on one of Shi'a Islam's most holy days, and even the joyous occasion of Hamoudi's own wedding- invite the reader to experience a new side of the country that has featured so prominently in our nightly news. Hamoudi draws on his unique perspective as the American-born son of two Iraqis to bring new insight to the What went wrong in Iraq?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2008
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Haider Ala Hamoudi
7 books3 followersHaider Ala Hamoudi grew up speaking fluent Arabic and visiting Baghdad every year. He has written for the Asia Times and numerous law reviews and journals, and he has been interviewed on the New York Law Journal, the Online NewsHour, and other publications and media outlets. He currently lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 5, 2019
Splendid memoir—honest, charming, intelligent and real
Written with disarming honesty, this memoir of an Iraqi American is a fascinating look at the Iraqi people during the American occupation. Professor Hamoudi returned to the land of his family after the invasion in 2003 with high hopes. As a bilingual lawyer from a prominent Shi’a family, he was in a good position to help with the building of the hoped for democracy. He is obviously a privileged and highly educated man, idealistic and religious but also secular. He hated Saddam Hussein and what the psychopathic dictator had done to his country. But Hamoudi is not just some ex-pat returning to his homeland in other to reap the spoils of war. Instead, as one cannot help but know from reading his engaging account, Hamoudi sincerely believed in the American effort and wanted nothing more than to be an instrumental part of bringing about a secure, happy and prosperous life for Iraqis.
In this he failed as he tells us in the final pages. He tells us why candidly. He writes: “…between air conditioning failures, power cuts, limited grocery options, appallingly slow internet connections, a near entire lack of recreation, and, of course, a constant fear of annihilation, life was becoming unbearable, my ability to write limited, and my efforts to teach Iraqi students psychologically exhausting, I felt myself wasting away.” (p. 271)
Note well the practical and personal nature of his concerns. How easy it would have been—and how empty—for Professor Hamoudi to say he could not achieve success because the American occupation had been so poorly planned and executed, because the uneducated and warring Iraqi fractions were at one another’s throats and were not ready for democracy. How easy it would have been to blame others, but characteristically Hamoudi blames himself and accepts personal responsibility for his “failure.”
But it was not a failure because one of the things that came from his experience was this book. It is a great success itself because it shows the Iraqi people--and especially this particular Iraqi, himself--in a genuinely human way, complete with shortcomings and strengths, complete with differing ideas and beliefs, but with very much the same humanity that we all share.
Curiously enough this memoir is also a charming love story that takes the reader by surprise. Here is how Hamoudi recalls the first conversion with his future wife, Sara, whom he met while working in Kurdistan Iraq.
“’I am sorry, remind me of your name one more time?’ I asked.
“She looked confused, but replied, ‘Sara.’
“’Sara, Professor Saman said you were interested in applying for a Fulbright, and I would like to help you. Have you completed the application?’
Sara is confused. They are conversing in Arabic, but that is not Sara’s native tongue. After some further confusion, Hamoudi asks again, “’Did you not actually apply for the Fulbright? Do I have the wrong person?’
“She shook her head from side to side and stared at me, unsure of what I was saying.”
At this point Hamoudi decides to go and fetch Professor Saman.
“I turned to the door. Suddenly I heard a lovely voice.
“’O thou Professor, dost thou refer to the application whose pages must be completed in full along with the most favorable recommendations sent by professors that doth hold me in the highest regard?’”
Hamoudi says, “Huh?” And then gets an inspiration: “’What dost thou say?’
“With this the most beautiful smile I had ever seen appeared on Sara’s face. ‘I understandeth thy latest utterance thou professor of wisdom!’
“’Dost thou understand only classical Arabic?’ I was feeling rather stupid speaking this way but had no alternative.” (p. 200)
As they say in Hollywood: “Boy meets girl, cute!”
Of course love in Islamic lands is rather formal. They can hardly be together and certainly not alone. He can buy her a friendship present, maybe, but not a romantic one! And to use the word “love”—well, here is how they managed it over the telephone:
“’Haider?’ she asked, as I was preparing to hang up the telephone.
“’Yes, Sara?’
“’I want to teach you a new Kurdish word before you go.’
“’Okay.’
“’In case one day you want to tell your mother, or maybe your aunt, “I love you” in Kurdish, this is how you say it—Khoshem Ewet.’
“’Got it. I am sure my Arab mother and aunt will like that.’
“’Goodbye again, then, Haider.’
“’Khoshem Ewet, Sara Khan.’
“A pause, then, in English, a language she did not know well, ‘I love you too.’” (p. 217)
I came away from reading this book with a new understanding and appreciation of the Iraqi people. Initially I was disposed to question Professor Hamoudi’s motives, figuring that he was just another of those privileged exiled Iraqis, like Ahmad Chalabi, who promoted the invasion of Iraqi for personal gain. But Hamoudi reveals himself (as one must in telling such a long and personal story) to be sincere, hardworking, intelligent, diplomatic (very! and patient), vulnerable, more heroic than he knows, a man of the world who understands better than most of us not only what has happened and is happening in Iraq, but a man who has that understanding as both an American and an Iraqi who is an Arab Muslim. If we had more people like Professor Hamoudi in this world, the quarrels, the misunderstandings, the suspicions and hatreds that exist among people would be largely quelled and the world would be a better place.
I hope this book is widely read, as it deserves to be.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
Written with disarming honesty, this memoir of an Iraqi American is a fascinating look at the Iraqi people during the American occupation. Professor Hamoudi returned to the land of his family after the invasion in 2003 with high hopes. As a bilingual lawyer from a prominent Shi’a family, he was in a good position to help with the building of the hoped for democracy. He is obviously a privileged and highly educated man, idealistic and religious but also secular. He hated Saddam Hussein and what the psychopathic dictator had done to his country. But Hamoudi is not just some ex-pat returning to his homeland in other to reap the spoils of war. Instead, as one cannot help but know from reading his engaging account, Hamoudi sincerely believed in the American effort and wanted nothing more than to be an instrumental part of bringing about a secure, happy and prosperous life for Iraqis.
In this he failed as he tells us in the final pages. He tells us why candidly. He writes: “…between air conditioning failures, power cuts, limited grocery options, appallingly slow internet connections, a near entire lack of recreation, and, of course, a constant fear of annihilation, life was becoming unbearable, my ability to write limited, and my efforts to teach Iraqi students psychologically exhausting, I felt myself wasting away.” (p. 271)
Note well the practical and personal nature of his concerns. How easy it would have been—and how empty—for Professor Hamoudi to say he could not achieve success because the American occupation had been so poorly planned and executed, because the uneducated and warring Iraqi fractions were at one another’s throats and were not ready for democracy. How easy it would have been to blame others, but characteristically Hamoudi blames himself and accepts personal responsibility for his “failure.”
But it was not a failure because one of the things that came from his experience was this book. It is a great success itself because it shows the Iraqi people--and especially this particular Iraqi, himself--in a genuinely human way, complete with shortcomings and strengths, complete with differing ideas and beliefs, but with very much the same humanity that we all share.
Curiously enough this memoir is also a charming love story that takes the reader by surprise. Here is how Hamoudi recalls the first conversion with his future wife, Sara, whom he met while working in Kurdistan Iraq.
“’I am sorry, remind me of your name one more time?’ I asked.
“She looked confused, but replied, ‘Sara.’
“’Sara, Professor Saman said you were interested in applying for a Fulbright, and I would like to help you. Have you completed the application?’
Sara is confused. They are conversing in Arabic, but that is not Sara’s native tongue. After some further confusion, Hamoudi asks again, “’Did you not actually apply for the Fulbright? Do I have the wrong person?’
“She shook her head from side to side and stared at me, unsure of what I was saying.”
At this point Hamoudi decides to go and fetch Professor Saman.
“I turned to the door. Suddenly I heard a lovely voice.
“’O thou Professor, dost thou refer to the application whose pages must be completed in full along with the most favorable recommendations sent by professors that doth hold me in the highest regard?’”
Hamoudi says, “Huh?” And then gets an inspiration: “’What dost thou say?’
“With this the most beautiful smile I had ever seen appeared on Sara’s face. ‘I understandeth thy latest utterance thou professor of wisdom!’
“’Dost thou understand only classical Arabic?’ I was feeling rather stupid speaking this way but had no alternative.” (p. 200)
As they say in Hollywood: “Boy meets girl, cute!”
Of course love in Islamic lands is rather formal. They can hardly be together and certainly not alone. He can buy her a friendship present, maybe, but not a romantic one! And to use the word “love”—well, here is how they managed it over the telephone:
“’Haider?’ she asked, as I was preparing to hang up the telephone.
“’Yes, Sara?’
“’I want to teach you a new Kurdish word before you go.’
“’Okay.’
“’In case one day you want to tell your mother, or maybe your aunt, “I love you” in Kurdish, this is how you say it—Khoshem Ewet.’
“’Got it. I am sure my Arab mother and aunt will like that.’
“’Goodbye again, then, Haider.’
“’Khoshem Ewet, Sara Khan.’
“A pause, then, in English, a language she did not know well, ‘I love you too.’” (p. 217)
I came away from reading this book with a new understanding and appreciation of the Iraqi people. Initially I was disposed to question Professor Hamoudi’s motives, figuring that he was just another of those privileged exiled Iraqis, like Ahmad Chalabi, who promoted the invasion of Iraqi for personal gain. But Hamoudi reveals himself (as one must in telling such a long and personal story) to be sincere, hardworking, intelligent, diplomatic (very! and patient), vulnerable, more heroic than he knows, a man of the world who understands better than most of us not only what has happened and is happening in Iraq, but a man who has that understanding as both an American and an Iraqi who is an Arab Muslim. If we had more people like Professor Hamoudi in this world, the quarrels, the misunderstandings, the suspicions and hatreds that exist among people would be largely quelled and the world would be a better place.
I hope this book is widely read, as it deserves to be.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
July 15, 2022
Very well written. The author places the reader in post-9/11 Iraq...and gives a feeling what it was like to be there....
November 11, 2008
Good book written by my high school buddy. The story of Haider Hamoudi, an Iraqi-American returning to the country with the hopes of helping build the legal infrastructure after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. This is his story of his trials and tribulations of navigating his homeland in a tumultous period socially, economically, and politically.
Not long after getting into the book, one quickly appreciates what they have and takes for granted.
Not long after getting into the book, one quickly appreciates what they have and takes for granted.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews