The Taliban Shuffle

Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan

By: Kim Barker

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Now a Major Motion Picture titled Whiskey Tango Foxtrot starring Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, and Billy Bob Thornton.

From tea with warlords in the countryside to parties with drunken foreign correspondents in the “dry” city of Kabul, journalist Kim Barker captures the humor and heartbreak of life in post-9/11 Afghanistan and Pakistan in this profound and darkly comic memoir. As Barker grows from awkward newbie to seasoned reporter, she offers an insider’s account of the region’s “forgotten war” at a time when all eyes were turned to Iraq. Candid, self-deprecating, and laugh-out-loud funny, Barker shares both her affection for the absurdities of these two hapless countries and her fear for their future stability.

Great Stuff

I enjoyed every minute of this audio book. It gives a feeling that you're getting the 'real' story about the wars and lives in Afghanistan. Yes, there is humor. But Kim certainly is not diminishing the seriousness of the issue in any way. I would say the humor of some of the situations reflects the reality of life which is too often focused on the fighting and not nearly enough on how we (U.S.) are affecting life where our military goes.

Thanks Kim. Great work.

Chris Reich

Unique Take on a War Story

Any additional comments?

I thought it was extremely unique to hear what kinds of trials a woman in the journalism field faces while a foreign correspondent in a Muslim country. The unique situations and Kim's wry wit add a very unique twist on the war stories I am fond of reading.

informative

This felt less about partying and more about how to potentially mend foreign policy. I enjoyed listening to this remarkable story.

Better than the movie Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

As much as I enjoy Tina Fey, the movie "based on" The Taliban Shuffle is an entirely different story than Kim Barker's fascinating and detailed true story of being a reporter in Afghanistan for several years. There is neither the Margot Robbie character nor Billy Bob Thornton's General. Even the title makes no sense. (I had to explain the military phonetic alphabet to my adult sister.) I urge you to read / listen to The Taliban Shuffle instead. Imagine Barker's (not Baker's) life in a war zone. Well, don't imagine it, listen to or read her stories. The audio version was well done in all respects. We listened to this book during a long drive and then plugged into our RV speakers to finish the final two hours. I enjoyed them both...but they are not the same story.

LOVE!!!

Loved this book so much! It's her story so don't read it looking for a history of the war. It's what she experienced and it's colorful and beautiful.

Struggled to finish

I'm not a fan of memiors especially when written by a reporter. They are necessarily great story tellers. I finished it because it was a book club pick.

Fascinating!

This was a very interesting memoir of this woman's experiences in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It has helped me to understand why there seems to be unending chaos in that part of the world.

Fantastic Book!

This was a great book. The writing, the story, the narration were all great. I appreciated getting to hear a westerners view of Afghanistan and Pakistan through the eyes of a civilian, a journalist, and a kind of peek through the eyes of some military. Warning, if you are reading this because of the movie adaptation... it will not be what you expect. The movie was a hallmark reordered version, while still being a fantastic movie. If you are okay with this fact, I would highly recommend.

Excellent perspective from a variety of viewpoints...

I started this book while jumping hoops to get to Afghanistan and then didn't finish until I'd been here a few months. Kim's insights have been both helpful and funny as I learn to navigate this world. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys honest stories of living cross culturally and to anyone who wants to understand life under war in this region.

Eye opening

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Pros: Very unique and unexpected viewpoint of Afghanistan and Pakistan; I knew nothing previously but what is shown in the news and didn't expect either country to be even moderately safe and friendly to foreign journalists, who evidently lived like college students with private drivers. My favorite details were those of day to day life - what clothes she wore (and her impressive lack of fashion sense), when did she have to cover her head vs. stay uncovered, how much booze they drank, the apparent fishbowl of dating in a war zone, etc.

Cons: As I like the lifestyle details, the parts detailing actual war-related people and events were pretty dry. I spaced out a lot during those parts, and I wasn't very good at remembering the unfamiliar names of important players, so it was a hard to keep track of who was who and in what country.