SOUVENIRS FROM AN ABSURD LIFE

In this memoir, Dahler tells of finding wholeness in a career that took him from glitzy Hollywood parties to the depths of Iraqi war zones.

The author has done a lot in his 30-year career as an author, journalist, and network TV news correspondent for ABC, CBS, CNBC, and Fox News, including chasing a porcupine through the Namibian desert while working on a nature film and driving through Iraq with Kurdish guerrilla fighters. In his personal life, he almost sold an apartment to Leonardo DiCaprio. This memoir takes readers from his difficult childhood as a “military brat,” punctuated by confrontations with schoolyard bullies and an abusive father, through his development as a reporter. It culminates with a didactic list of takeaways from his life and career. The book’s snappy, short vignettes have eyebrow-raising titles such as “Shaq and the Black Mamba” (about an interview with basketball star Kobe Bryant) and “That Time I Almost Had To Kill A Guy,” about an episode in wartime Iraq. Dahler’s disbelief at his success, his luck, and the wild situations in which he found himself runs through many of these episodes; he introduces himself by explaining, “The fact that I was among those very few elevated to those [network correspondent] positions, for as long as I was able to hang on, is absolutely ridiculous.” Later stories, though, sometimes indulge in name-dropping, as in an account of when Ellen DeGeneres “asked if I’d be willing to donate my sperm so that she and Anne [Heche] could have a baby.” Frequent typographical errors are also distracting. Still, his skill at injecting humor into grave situations makes his memoir worthwhile. The author’s work is at its most graceful when recalling his times in Afghanistan and Iraq with their accurate explanations of historical context, detailed recollections of high-stakes conversations with U.S. military officials, and sympathetic accounts of civilians. Bits of useful advice for aspiring correspondents also bookend his stories.  

A fast-paced, lighthearted reflection on an unpredictable life.