From Baghdad, With Love

A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava

By: Jay Kopelman

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Love and hope often arrive in the strangest places and in the strangest ways. During his tour of duty in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman of the U.S. Marines endured the emotional stress common for those involved in bloody battles for freedom. Although the rules forbid pets, Kopelman and his comrades adopted an abandoned puppy left behind after the battle for Fallujah. The dog (named Lava) befriended the Marines and journalists, and was eventually smuggled out of Iraq by the soldiers with the help of NPR reporters, John van Zante and the Helen Woodward Animal Center, Iraqi citizens, and the Iams pet food company.

©2006 Jay Kopelman (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Exciting." (Publishers Weekly)

Beautiful and luring

Loved the passion and heartache you could feel hearing the story. It is like I was with him there fighting to bring that furry little butt home.

GREAT!!!

From the content...to the narrator, I enjoyed every minute of this book. During 75% of the listen, I was at the edge of my seat!!! In order not to give too much away...the narrator was fantastic, I laughed...I got a little teary-eyed...there were moments that my mouth was agape from the graphic nature of some of the content. Overall, I very quick listen and every minute was enjoyed - I have over an hour commute each way to/from work and I even found myself do a couple extra circles around my house to listen even longer.

An Excellent Read

My wife suggested that I read this book. While I am big dog lover (our lab mix is the best) I just thought that this was going to be a "chick book". I was wrong. The story of the rescue of "Lava Dog" is a heartwarming tale (no pun intended) and well told by the author. My only criticism - the narrarator. His voice and delivery was not suited to this (type of) story - reading a Stephan Hawkings book yes, but not this one.

Wonderful Book

This is for everybody that loves animals. I cannot tell you how I was on the edge of my seat with the story of how this man would get the puppy out of Bagdad. I listened to it and could not put my Ipod down. It mixed the ugliness of war with the beauty of hope and love between a man and his loyal pet found in a horrible place. A must listen!

One of the best!

As an Army Wife, a lot of books don't really show an unbiased viewpoint when it comes to our military families. This is the best book I have ever listened to. Its not violent, but it lest you know how a military family works during a deployent, both from the soldier's view, and their family at home.

Worth Five and a Half Stars

I wanted to give it six stars but needed to take half off because of the very occasional bad language and graphic description of human injury that make it not suitable for less than teens. A wonderful rollercoaster ride of a story that you know has a happy ending. AND IT'S A TRUE STORY! Fascinating insights into the US Marine Corp of which I now have a great respect for (I am an Australian, non military). The narration was perfect. I'm very glad that this book was written, and that the audio was made. Very unlikely to disappoint anyone.

Listened to it twice!

I enjoyed this book the first time... as a heartwarming version of "tough guy who goes all mushy over a puppy" a few years ago when it was new. Just listened to it all over again a couple years later and thoroughly enjoyed it all over again. Good for dog lovers and you learn about the Marines, how reporters are embedded into active units, and the war in Iraq. Interesting all the way... and not a long book either. Great length to fill in a car trip.

A Gripping Story

I will add my concurrence to the previous review. My own pampered and lucky dog got really long walks while I listened to this story because I hated to leave my iPod.
An amazing look at real feelings and experiences of our soldiers in Iraq and the power of our 4-legged friends to keep us human against the odds.

One of THE best books I have ever read!

What made the experience of listening to From Baghdad, With Love the most enjoyable?

The love that grew between Lava and Jay Kopelman and his posse.... How many people there and here, spent time and resources to love, take care of and get Lava back here. How it was intermingled with the war and what was going on...

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kopelman, his gruffness and then his softeness was portrayed wonderfully

What about the narrator’s performance did you like?

The way he captured exactly what Kopelman would say in exactly the way you would imagine him saying it... He was a great narrator!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end. When after all the build up and dissappointment is disspelled because Lava makes it!

Any additional comments?

LOVE IT! Wish it had never ended!

Hot Lava!

Would you consider the audio edition of From Baghdad, With Love to be better than the print version?

I always prefer audio to written because I retain better and enjoy it more. I have also read both books when they were first published and enjoyed the written version too.

What was one of the most memorable moments of From Baghdad, With Love?

The section when Lava is being moved out of the country by all the "well known" media people helping out. In fact, after reading the book years ago, I wrote to some of the people mentioned in the book and thanked them for helping Jay with Lava. They actually responded to me very graciously!

Have you listened to any of uncredited’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

NA

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NA

Any additional comments?

I had read the written version when it first came out, so I was really excited to find it in audio form. Having Jay reading his own book was an additional treat because he knew his own story and was able to read it with his own emotions and thoughts. For many years, I have supported organizations like SPCAI and Baghdad Pups, who help bring these little friends home for our troops. Lava's story is an example of how well it goes when there is a team working together. It reveals how many animal lovers are really out there.