Praise

“The most famous and most mysterious blogger in the world . . . Salam Pax was the Anne Frank of the war . . . and its Elvis.” –Peter Maass, Slate.com

“In turns crass and subtle, provincial and worldly, the diary of Salam Pax has become one voice of an Internet generation alienated from nations and tribes but connected to one another in the most intimate digital ways.” –Charles Piller, The Los Angeles Times

“There are dozens of journalists and TV cameras in the Iraqi capital. But the most vivid account of the build-up to war and the start of the bombing has appeared on the internet-on the weblog of an unknown Iraqi writing under the name Salam Pax.” –Leo Hickman, The Guardian

“One of the most talked about [blogs] is that of a man known as ‘salam Pax.” Both parts of his nom de plume-‘salam” and “Pax”-mean peace, in Arabic and Latin, respectively. His accounts of the recent bombings, the current state of affairs in the Iraqi capital and his family’s reactions offer an incredible view of life in Baghdad.” –Erica Hill, CNN.com

” “Salam Pax” is an extremely talented writer. The singularity of his position and subject matter can lead one to overlook this, but I was aware of it as soon as I started reading him, just prior to the war. The fact that English is not his first language actually underscores his gifts of observation and expression; he’ll write “around” his own uncertainty of usage, and get it right on the button.” –William Gibson

“A mysterious Iraqi who goes by the name of “Salam Pax” and who writes a blog (Internet diary) from Baghdad is becoming a celebrity, on the Internet, with his firsthand stories of a city under siege . . . the traffic on the site has become so intense that it has blocked the server, while his e-mail has gone on the blink due to the vast number of messages from people who are asking him to prove his true identity.” –La Stampa (Italy)