God's Favorite

Well, I'm sure living through Noriega's rule was not nearly as much fun! A fun voyage combining historical fact with behind-closed-doors fiction, plenty of psychological analysis of a despot that becomes more and more unhnged. You really do feel like you get inside the head of "pineapple face".One of the best of this genre.

This is a spectacular piece of writing by one of America's outstanding political reporters and writers, Lawrence Wright of the New Yorker. One can only marvel at the blind stupidity of the publishing industry insofar as no one has taken this book to paper and marketed the hell out of it! It is a total gem --- a piece of unparalleled political reporting wrapped into a beautifully written novel that raises all the most basic questions good books like this should raise --- what is good and what is evil in the context of Central American terror and corruption, who is good and who is bad in a maelstrom of American and Israeli buccaneers and corrupt drug lords tied to deadly militarists, is there a God if Noriega lives and thrives while decent idealists are horribly tortured and massacred by his thugs, and what is religion in a place where people interchangeably use the rites of voodoo, buddhism, and catholicism to try to survive. Grim and rasty thriller wrapped in hilarious absurdity and dark broodings, all tied together in sharp easy-read prose. So very very good.

An utterly arresting blend of fact and fiction, "God's Favorite" thrusts the reader into the bloody maelstrom of Panama under Noriega. The book is incredibly accessible, even entertaining, but it never loses its intent to put you into the heart of the situation, sparing no one, revealing everything. Of course, one cannot know what a historical figure thinks, believes or desires. Even their own words are tainted by the unswerving gaze of history. Wright, however, does not let his book rest on his assumtions of thoughts and feeling. He brings a trained observers calculated analysis and the well known documented facts of the situation to frame his narrative.This is a truly delightful experience, crisp in style, engaging in content and memorable in the final experience. Recommended.

A novel of the highest order, taking in religion, history, various world views, politics, and cultures while introducing the reader to modern times. Set in Panama in the late '80's it is a bottom's up view of the top of the hierarchy and how the way that world works from both the macro and microscopic view. The bloody view of personal and corrupted power will make the reader wince, laugh out loud, and possibly bring a tear to the eye. We find out how an ugly Mestizo can own a country and as the reader gets into Mr. Noriega's skin to see his view, we find that the writer has a good grasp on the ordinary things that bring meaning to one's life; however it is also the view of a mad man. We are given a look at the USA machinations into that region and the ultimate purposes involving new-old fashion terrorism, narco-terrorism, with a pinch of romance. Often I felt as if I were participating in the movie Casablanca. An enjoyable read from front to back. On the other hand, my wife put the book down after page 10.

Once started, I simply could not put this book down--an intelligent thriller/political satire from someone who writes SO well. Wright spares no one in his telling of the fiasco in Panama and if you aren't compelled after finishing it to read the factual accounts, you clearly didn't read the same book I did. At times appalling and comic, the story and its characters are completely fascinating and heart-breakingly sad. How does George Bush sleep at night?