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Breakup: A Marriage in Wartime Hardcover – April 11, 2023

by Anjan Sundaram (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
See all formats and editions
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Award-winning journalist Anjan Sundaram, hailed as “the Indian successor to Kapuscinski” (Basharat Peer) and praised for “remarkable” (Jon Stewart), “excellent” (Fareed Zakaria), and “courageous and heartfelt” (The Washington Post) work, must reckon with the devastating personal cost of war correspondence when he travels to the Central African Republic to report on preparations for a genocide hidden from the world, leaving his wife and newborn behind in Canada

After ten years of reporting from central Africa for The New York Times, Associated Press, and others, Anjan Sundaram finds himself living a quiet life in Shippagan, Canada, with his wife and newborn. But when word arrives of preparations for ethnic cleansing in the Central African Republic, he is suddenly torn between his duty as a husband and father, and his moral responsibility to report on a conflict unseen by the world.

Soon he is traveling through the CAR, with a driver who may be a spy, bearing witness to ransacked villages and locals fleeing imminent massacre, fielding offers of mined gold and hearing stories of soldiers who steal schoolbooks for rolling paper. When he refuses to return home, journeying instead into a rebel stronghold, he learns that there is no going back to the life he left behind.

Breakup illuminates the personal price that war correspondents pay as they bear witness on the frontlines of humanitarian crimes across the world. This brilliantly introspective, grounded account of one man’s inner turmoil in the context of a dangerous journey through a warzone is sure to become a modern classic.
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  1. Print length
    208 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Catapult
  4. Publication date
    April 11, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    5.73 x 0.74 x 8.51 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    164622115X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1646221158
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Time, A Best Book of the Month
The Washington Post, A Most Anticipated Title

"A remarkable and needed chronicle of a war gone missing from the collective moral conscience." —Jina Moore Ngarambe, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

“Works in the same fragmented modernist key as the prose of William Faulkner . . . Unnerving and memorable.” —Tom Zoellner, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Propulsive . . . Sundaram's honest writing serves both the personal and political well." —Booklist

"Sundaram’s descriptions of wartime Central Africa are riveting, and his political analysis is intriguing . . . An introspective . . . memoir about war and family." —Kirkus Reviews

"Riveting . . . A powerful study of the forces that tear nations and people apart." —Publishers Weekly

"A compelling journey of hatred and horror, of compassion and courage, through the wreckage left by French imperialism in the Central African Republic, what should be one of the most prosperous and productive countries in the world, leading the way for Africa. I can hardly imagine the bravery it took to compile this invaluable record" —Noam Chomsky

“This is the kind of investigative journalism I wish I had read much earlier in my career. Breakup is an understated yet emotive firsthand account of human rights atrocities often overlooked, and the price of attempting to tell these stories. Sundaram expertly captures the terrifying moment many crisis journalists experience but rarely share: when home begins to feel foreign, and living in a dangerous environment feels more normal than a happy life at home.” —Will Potter, author of Green Is the New Red

"An immensely powerful work, bringing to light, in compelling intimacy, an emblematic conflict that deserves far more attention than it currently gets in mainstream media." —Philippe Sands, author of East West Street

“A masterpiece. I was enraptured by the prose and it took me through a whole range of intensely felt emotions. I love all of Sundaram’s books but this one hit me hardest.” —Richard Grant, author of The Deepest South of All

"A wonderful blend of the public and personal, of war and love, told in clear and beautiful language." —Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends

"War destroys countries. War destroys love. At its heart, Breakup is about a forgotten war in a country far away. But it is also a universal story, beautifully written and passionately told, of a seeker on a dangerous journey, about the power of love and the eventual redemption that a child and family can bring. Breakup captures this in all its pain, joy, sadness, and mystery." —Janine di Giovanni, author of Ghosts by Daylight: Love, War, and Redemption

“I marvel at those journalists who put their lives in peril covering conflicts in countries that most people don’t know exist. Breakup is so gripping that I had to remind myself to breathe. Sundaram’s unflinching reflections on his inner conflict—his doubts, his terror, and the toll his work takes on his marriage—are even more admirable. This is an extraordinary work that will linger in my mind." —Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

"Penetrating, courageous, indelible. Anjan Sundaram is an astonishing writer and this is such an important narrative, a terrain so few of us know. We should all read it." —Sunjeev Sahota, author of China Room

"Anjan Sundaram is one of the great reporters of our age. He writes with exceptional courage and deep humanity. An inspiring chronicler of the world and the spirit." —Fergal Keane, author of The Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and PTSD

"A breathtaking story, a rare testimony from a foreign journalist that highlights the incredible experience of an oppressed people caught in the crossfire of lawless militiamen in a country almost forgotten by the international media. I recommend that you read this reportage." —Didier Kassaï, author of A House Without Windows

"Sundaram's style in Breakup is like no other contemporary writer's I’ve read: elegant, pregnant, allegorical. It is a rare kind of experiential writing that trusts its readers and captures the ambiguities of modern life." —Eve Fairbanks, author of The Inheritors

About the Author

ANJAN SUNDARAM is the award-winning author of Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship and Stringer: A Reporter’s Journey in the Congo. His war correspondence won a Frontline Club Award in 2015 and a Reuters award in 2006 and was short-listed for the Prix Bayeux in 2015. Sundaram graduated from Yale University, where he studied mathematics, and holds a PhD in journalism from the University of East Anglia.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Catapult (April 11, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 164622115X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1646221158
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.73 x 0.74 x 8.51 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

About the author

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Anjan Sundaram

Anjan Sundaram

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Anjan Sundaram is the author of Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship and Stringer: A Reporter's Journey in the Congo. An award-winning journalist, he has reported from central Africa for the New York Times and the Associated Press. His writing has also appeared in Granta, The Guardian, Observer, Foreign Policy, Telegraph and The Washington Post. His war correspondence from the Central African Republic won a Frontline Club award in 2015, and his reporting on Pygmy tribes in Congo's rainforest won a Reuters prize in 2006. His work has also been shortlisted for the Prix Bayeux and the Kurt Schork award. Stringer was a Royal African Society Book of the Year in 2014. Anjan graduated from Yale University.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
17 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

naman shah
5.0 out of 5 stars An intimate and exhilarating journey
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
Anjan Sundaram's latest book masterfully intertwines the harrowing experiences of reporting during the civil war in the Central African Republic with the intimate impact it has on his marriage. This compelling narrative offers a raw, unfiltered look at the sacrifices one makes in the pursuit of truth and humanitarian efforts.

Sundaram's storytelling is captivating and immersive, transporting the reader into the heart of the conflict. Through his eyes, we witness the devastating impact of war on the local population and the courageous acts of those who risk their lives to bring these stories to light. His work highlights the power of journalism as a tool for change, even in the face of insurmountable odds.

However, this book is not only about war and journalism; it is also a deeply personal story of love and the strains that such a demanding profession can put on relationships. Sundaram bravely shares the emotional toll that his commitment to reporting took on his marriage, providing readers with a rare and honest look at the sacrifices that can emerge in the course of such work.

Highly recommended!
Helpful
 Report
Marc Sommers
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique & compelling take on war and family life
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2023
A powerful book about a young family and a war journalist who must be near the action. The style of writing about wartime stress and tragedy is distinctive. The careful positioning of declarative description and quotes makes it seem as if the wartime events take place in slow motion.
The image that sticks the most was the author entering a town recently vacated by government troops – and finding it full of pigs. Of course: the Muslim forces for the government left the pigs and ate the other domestic animals. The image of the (intimidating) family of pigs inside one house was unusual and compelling.
The simultaneous demise of the author’s marriage (as the title fortells) was sad to read. It also made this take on wartime experience intimate and engrossing. A unique must-read. Definitely recommended.
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Prithvi Ramesh
5.0 out of 5 stars Break up is a must read
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2023
What differentiates Anjan's reportage from others is the heart in his writing. This is his most personal yet, and gently leads the reader along with him as he bravely sets out to witness and report on a war without witnesses. Must read for anyone interested in justice.
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Niccola V Milnes
5.0 out of 5 stars Another amazing book by Anjan
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2023
a beautiful book that explores the personal costs of covering war
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