Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist whose work appears regularly in The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time magazine. She has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and the Congo, and has received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Genius Grant.In 2009, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize as part of the New York Times team for International Reporting.
“Beautifully written and vividly illustrated with her images—which
are stunningly cinematic, often strange, always evocative—the book
helps us understand not only what would lead a young woman to
pursue such a dangerous and difficult profession, but why she is so
good at it. Lens to her eye, Addario is an artist of empathy, a
witness not to grand ideas about human sacrifice and suffering, but
to human beings, simply being.” —Boston Globe
“The opening scene of Lynsey Addario’s memoir sucker punches you
like a cold hard fist. She illuminates the daily frustrations
of working within the confines of what the host culture expects
from a member of her sex and her constant fight for
respect from her male journalist peers and American soldiers.
Always she leads with her chin, whether she’s on the ground in
hostile territory or discussing politics.” —Entertainment
Weekly
“[A] richly illustrated memoir. [Addario] conveys well her unstated
mission to stir the emotions of people like herself, born into
relative security and prosperity, nudging them out of their comfort
zones with visual evidence of horrors they might do something
about. It is a diary of an empathetic young woman who makes
understanding the wider world around her a professional
calling.” —Los Angeles Times
“Addario’s narrative about growing up as one of four daughters born
to hairdressers in Los Angeles and working her way up to being one
of the world’s most accomplished photojournalists, male or female,
is riveting. [She] thoughtfully shows how exhilarating and
demanding it is to cover the most difficult assignments in the
world. Addario is a shining example of someone who has been
able to “have it all,” but she has worked hard and absolutely
suffered to get where she is. My hope is that she continues to live
the life less traveled with her family, as I will be waiting for
her next book with great anticipation.” —San Francisco
Chronicle
“[An] unflinching memoir. [Addario’s] book, woven through with
images from her travels, offers insight into international events
and the challenges faced by the journalists who capture
them.” —Washington Post
“[Addario’s] ability to capture . . . vulnerability in her
subjects, often in extreme circumstances, has propelled Addario to
the top of her competitive field.” —Associated Press
“A rare gift: an intimate look into the personal and professional
life of a war correspondent . . . a powerful read . . . This memoir
packs a punch because of Addario’s personal risks. But some of the
power in this book comes from the humanity she holds on to despite
the horrors she witnesses. [It’s What I Do] should be read,
processed and mulled over in its entirety. . . . In [Addario’s]
words and photos, readers will see that war isn’t simply a matter
of black and white, of who’s right and who’s wrong. There are as
many shades of gray as there are sides to every
story.” —Dallas Morning News
“A remarkable journalistic achievement from a Pulitzer Prize and
MacArthur Fellowship winner that crystalizes the last 10 years of
global war and strife while candidly portraying the intimate life
of a female photojournalist. Told with unflinching candor, the
award-winning photographer brings an incredible sense of humanity
to all the battlefields of her life. Especially affecting is the
way in which Addario conveys the role of gender and how being a
woman has impacted every aspect of her personal and professional
lives. Whether dealing with ultrareligious zealots or overly
demanding editors, being a woman with a camera has never been an
easy task. A brutally real and unrelentingly raw memoir that is as
inspiring as it is horrific.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“A highly readable and thoroughly engaging memoir. . . . Addario’s
memoir brilliantly succeeds not only as a personal and professional
narrative but also as an illuminating homage to photojournalism’s
role in documenting suffering and injustice, and its potential to
influence public opinion and official policy.” —Publishers
Weekly
“Addario has written a page-turner of a memoir describing her war
coverage and why and how she fell into—and stayed in—such a
dangerous job. This ‘extraordinary profession’—though exhilarating
and frightening, it ‘feels more like a commitment, a
responsibility, a calling’—is what she does, and the many
photographs scattered throughout this riveting book prove that she
does it magnificently.” —Booklist“It’s What I Do is as
brilliant as Addario’s pictures—and she’s the greatest photographer
of our war-torn time. She’s been kidnapped, nearly killed, while
capturing truth and beauty in the world’s worst places. She’s a
miracle. So is this book.” —Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of
Ashes and Enemies“Lynsey Addario’s book is like her life: big,
beautiful, and utterly singular. With the whole world as her
backdrop, Addario embarks on an extraordinary adventure whose
overriding effect is to remind of us what unites us
all.” —Dexter Filkins, author of The Forever War“A gifted
chronicler of her life and times, Lynsey Addario stands at the
forefront of her generation of photojournalists, young men and
women who have come of age during the brutal years of endless war
since 9/11. A uniquely driven and courageous woman, Addario is also
possessed of great quantities of humor and humanity. It’s What I Do
is the riveting, unforgettable account of an extraordinary life
lived at the very edge.” —Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer for
The New Yorker and author of The Fall of Baghdad“A life as a war
photographer has few parallels in terms of risk and reward, fear
and courage, pain and promise. Lynsey Addario has seen,
experienced, and photographed things that most of us cannot
imagine. The brain and heart behind her extraordinary photographic
eye pulls us inexorably closer to the center of each story she
pursues, no matter what the cost or danger.” —John
Prendergast, founding director of the Enough Project
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