About Dirty Wars and Polished Silver: The Life and Times of a War Correspondent Turned Ambassatrix
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Melville House (July 18, 2017)
From a former Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent, an exuberant memoir of life, love, and transformation on the frontlines of conflicts around the world
Growing up in 1970s Detroit, Lynda Schuster felt certain life was happening elsewhere. And as soon as she graduated from high school, she set out to find it.
Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is Schuster’s story of her life abroad as a foreign correspondent in war-torn countries, and, later, as the wife of a U.S. Ambassador. It chronicles her time working on a kibbutz in Israel, reporting on uprisings in Central America and a financial crisis in Mexico, dodging rocket fire in Lebanon, and grieving the loss of her first husband, a fellow reporter, who was killed only ten months after their wedding.
But even after her second marriage, to a U.S. diplomat, all the black-tie parties and personal staff and genteel “Ambassatrix School” grooming in the world could not protect her from the violence of war.
Equal parts gripping and charming, Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is a story about one woman’s quest for self-discovery—only to find herself, unexpectedly, more or less back where she started: wiser, saner, more resolved. And with all her limbs intact.
“A riveting international thriller…A page-turner thanks to lucid writing and thrilling storytelling.” —Kirkus, starred review
“Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is the fabulously entertaining story of Lynda Schuster’s adventures as a foreign correspondent and wife of a U. S. diplomat. It captures all the glamour, intrigue, love, and, yes, loss that’s to be found in a life lived on the frontlines, but it’s also a deliciously fun (and funny!) story of transformation. A delight from start to finish.” —Valerie Plame Wilson, author of Fair Game
“For the armchair traveler and imagined war correspondent, and for anyone who misses the tropical non-paradises of Africa and Latin America that furnished the intrigues of Graham Greene, I heartily recommend Dirty Wars and Polished Silver. It throbs with the romance, and the anguish, of a life lived in excitement and in peril, tracking sundry and dubious American missions abroad.” —Roger Lowenstein, author of When Genius Failed and America’s Bank
“A wonderful, witty ride about hurtling towards happiness and embracing maturity. If you ever wondered: What do I want and how do I find joy? Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is a book for you.” —Sonia Nazario, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Enrique’s Journey
Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble
About Lynda Schuster
Lynda Schuster is a former foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor, who has reported from Central and South America, Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Utne Reader, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Times Magazine, among other. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and daughter.
Connect with Lynda
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Lynda Schuster’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
Monday, August 14th: Lesa’s Book Critiques
Tuesday, August 15th: Dwell in Possibility
Wednesday, August 16th: Run Wright
Monday, August 21st: 5 Minutes for Books
Thursday, August 24th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Monday, August 28th: I Brought A Book
Friday, September 1st: Jathan & Heather
Thursday, September 7th: Broken Teepee – Spotlight
Monday, September 11th: Patricia’s Wisdom
Wednesday, September 13th: Books & Bindings
Wednesday, September 20th: Kahakai Kitchen
Friday, December 22nd: Suzy Approved