Road Work by Mark Bowden

This is a sort of compendium of shorter works by Mark Bowden (journalist and author, most famous for Black Hawk Down) comprised of 19 stories on a variety of topics. As an example, he covers the issue of torture, a small bio of Saddam Hussein, the historic rivalry between two high school football teams, the genetic engineering of cattle, and even the story of the world's oldest living gorilla. There's something for everyone there.

I think Mark Bowden is a great journalist, because he writes the kind of in-depth stories that I like to read, and if you've read Black Hawk Down, you know he's a master at keeping personal bias out of it. Some of these stories are more personal though, and call for that kind of personal commentary, so you do get a different experience here than in a longer work like Black Hawk Down.

This is a good book if you want to read some non-fiction but don't want to commit to a 400 page book on one single topic. If you're the kind to get bored to tears by non-fiction but you still want to read it sometimes, this is the book for you. Not only are the stories short and entertaining, Bowden is a solid writer.

I suggest you pick this up at the library and give it a try. You may just find you want to read Black Hawk Down after all.