You Don't Belong Here

How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War

By: Elizabeth Becker

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently shattered the barriers to women covering war

Kate Webb, an Australian iconoclast, Catherine Leroy, a French daredevil photographer, and Frances FitzGerald, a blue-blood American intellectual, arrived in Vietnam with starkly different life experiences but one shared purpose: to report on the most consequential story of the decade. At a time when women were considered unfit to be foreign reporters, Frankie, Catherine, and Kate challenged the rules imposed on them by the military, ignored the belittlement of their male peers, and ultimately altered the craft of war reportage for generations.

In You Don’t Belong Here, Elizabeth Becker uses these women’s work and lives to illuminate the Vietnam War from the 1965 American buildup, the expansion into Cambodia, and the American defeat and its aftermath. Arriving herself in the last years of the war, Becker writes as a historian and a witness of the times.

What emerges is an unforgettable story of three journalists forging their place in a land of men, often at great personal sacrifice. Deeply reported and filled with personal letters, interviews, and profound insight, You Don’t Belong Here fills a void in the history of women and of war.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2021 Elizabeth Becker (P)2021 PublicAffairs

Good book for Vietnam buffs

This is an interesting book if you’re interested in the history of the American involvement in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Lisa Flanagans’s performance, however, while generally smooth and intelligent and easy to listen to, is marred by frequent mispronunciations such as “Pyoo-litzer” rather than “Pull-it-Sir” (as the Pulitzer family pronounced it), and a bevy of phrases in french. Since french comes up a lot in a story mostly situated in Vietnam, Ms Flanagan might take some time learning proper french pronunciation. Typical errors are pronouncing “de” as “day” rather than “duh,” or really any word that contains the e vowel, in its various forms, which she seems to guess at. It’s pretty grating since it comes up every other page. She might do well to take a little course in french pronunciation because she’s such a good reader, it’s a shame.

I also found Becker’s need to reassure us that her heroines were very attractive women was in itself sexist. If she were describing men, she wouldn’t keep telling readers what they were wearing and how great their figures were. I found it instrusive and grating.

All in all it’s an interesting book, adding a layer of detail to the general knowledge those of us who lived through that period already probably possess. These extraordinary women set an example for female, indeed all, journalists to follow.

Fascinating

Excellent study of three female journalists enduring the sexism, devastation of war & fight to tell the truth and get published.

Review of you don’t belong here by Ellizabeth Becker.

As a child of this time and a child of Watergate I found this book most compelling; it was an excellent review and it jogged memories that I hadn’t thought of for many years. These three war correspondents experiences in Vietnam and Cambodia epitomized the time; women’s liberation, misogyny, PTSD. It captured their experience very nicely. I will say that I did have some problem with reacquainting myself with the geography of Vietnam and coping with the spelling of places in Vietnamese. I’m not Sure how you rectify that situation maybe including a more complete gazetteer of the places mentioned in the story. These women truly were brave they are the very definition of courageous, it’s unfortunate that they did not seek treatment for PTSD after their harrowing ride in Indo-China ended.

Fascinating history

This book is a truly fascinating look at three women who covered the war in Vietnam. My husband and I listened eagerly.

A great Story

This book held me spellbound. Everyone needs to know about these brave woman. A must read.

Caring about Vietnam

Three remarkable women spent years of their lives dedicated to informing the world about the war in Vietnam, sharing their compassion for our troops, for Vietnamese combatants on both sides, and of their outrage at war. Brilliant retrospective history of the wars in Vietnam and in Cambodia. Beautifully written tribute to three brave women.

Very good read

Surprised that so few have listened to this production. The three contributors each follow different paths to Vietnam. The experiences of these women combine to give the listener three very valid sources for understanding the war more deeply. Each of them also provide a more thorough understanding of what war costs those who experience it: warrior, innocent and observer.

Women serve today as warriors, but these three had to prove that they were even capable of being observers... and they had to prove it over and over again. My only quibble is with some of the pronunciations of Vietnamese words. Hue (Way) is pronounced as who-ee to name but one. I would have preferred something like "Who-ee which was often called Way by Americans." It is admittedly a minor point, but a jarring one for those of us who served there.

It is an excellent read and I would recommend it without reservation.

Insightful

This is an important piece of history that's been told. These three women made a wonderful contribution to journalism, changing the viewpoint of the Vietnam War.

A Riveting Story

Excellent history lesson that gave this male Viet Nam veteran an important insight into that war and the aftermath from a female perspective.

Amazing

Breath taking of the ordeals of the times! Thought provoking of a point in history.