Guantánamo Diary - Softcover

Slahi, Mohamedou Ould

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316389250 ISBN 13: 9780316389259

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2015

Synopsis

The acclaimed national bestseller, welcomed on the cover of the New York Times Book Review--the first and only diary written by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee.

Mohamedou Slahi has been imprisoned at the detainee camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba since 2002. In all these years, the United States has never charged him with a crime. Although he was ordered released by a federal judge, the U.S. government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go.

Three years into his captivity Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared into U.S. custody and daily life as a detainee. His diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir---terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious. Guantánamo Diary is a document of immense emotional power and historical importance.

About this title

About the Author

Mohamedou Slahi was born in Mauritania in 1970. He has been detained at the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay since 2002. In 2010, a federal judge ordered him released--a decision the government appealed. The U.S. government has never charged him with a crime. He remains imprisoned in Guantánamo.

Larry Siems is a writer, human rights activist, and former director of the Freedom to Write program at PEN American Center.

Review

"A longtime captive has written the most profound and disturbing account yet of what it's like to be collateral damage in the war against terror."―Mark Danner, NYTBR, & Editors' Choice

"Slahi is a fluent, engaging and at times eloquent writer, even in his fourth language, English....Slahi's book offers a first-person account of the experience of torture. For that reason alone, the book is necessary reading for those seeking to understand the dangers that Guantánamo's continued existence poses to Americans in the world."―Deborah Pearlstein, Washington Post

"A riveting new book has emerged from one of the most contentious places in the world, and the U.S. government doesn't want you to read it....You don't have to be convinced of Slahi's innocence to be appalled by the incidents he describes."―Kevin Canfield, San Francisco Chronicle

"Guantánamo Diary will leave you shell-shocked."―Vanity Fair

"Slahi emerges from the pages of his diary...as a curious and generous personality, observant, witty and devout, but by no means fanatical....Guantánamo Diary forces us to consider why the United States has set aside the cherished idea that a timely trial is the best way to determine who deserves to be in prison.―Scott Shane, New York Times

"An historical watershed and a literary triumph....The diary is as close as most of us will ever get to understanding the living hell this man--who has never been charged with a crime, and whom a judge ordered released in 2010--continues to suffer."―Elias Isquith, Salon

"Everyone should read Guantánamo Diary....Just by virtue of having been written inside Guantánamo, Slahi's book would be a triumph of humanity over chaos. But Guantánamo Diary turns out to be especially human. Slahi doesn't just humanize himself; he also humanizes his guards and interrogators. That's not to say that he excuses them. Just the opposite: he presents them as complex individuals who know kindness from cruelty and right from wrong."―Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker

"The tragedy of Slahi's memoir is not just his grave abuse at the hands of U.S. officials. It is that....Slahi's account of life--if it can be called that--at Guantánamo is not the exception. It is the rule, and it continues today."―Alka Pradhan, Reuters

"Guantánamo Diary stands as perhaps the most human depiction of an entire post-9/11 system."―Omar El Akkad, Globe and Mail

"Literary history was made today with the publication of the first-ever book by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee....As astonishing as the scope of the abuse is Slahi's enduring warmth, even for his torturers and jailers."―Noa Yachot, Huffington Post

About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0316389250
• ISBN 13: 9780316389259
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432
• Editor: Siems Larry