So Many Enemies So Little Time

At a time when Americans were so riveted by questions about their place in a newly hostile world and were swearing off air travel Elinor Burkett did not just take a trip -- she took a headlong dive into enemy territories.<p>Her yearlong odyssey began with her assignment as a Fulbright Professor teaching journalism in Kyrgyzstan a faded fragment of Soviet might in the heart of Central Asia -- a place of dilapidated apartments bizarre food and demoralized citizens clinging to the safety of Brother Russia. She then journeyed to Afghanistan and Iraq -- where she mingled with tense Iraqis watching the gathering storm clouds of an American-led invasion -- as well as Iran Mongolia Uzbekistan China and Vietnam. <p>Whether she's writing about being served goat's head in a Kyrgyz yurt checking out bowling alleys in Baghdad or trying to cook a chicken in a crumbling apartment Burkett offers an eclectic series of adventures that are alternately comical poignant and discomfiting.