Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time (2004) by Ethan Casey

Acclaim for Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time (2004):

“The author’s real journey is a search for common humanity.”

— The Daily Telegraph

“Casey plunges into Pakistan like a knife, unearthing and unraveling the often unexplainable and unpredictable contradictions of a country on the edge. Pakistan just happens to be one of the most complex and difficult countries to describe, but Casey does a magnificent job. Casey’s prose sings, and his portraits are master class. A conjuror of images and sensations in an unpredictable land.”

— Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent into Chaos

“A delightfully penetrating read … Casey brilliantly depicts the events and scenario in Kashmir in the 90s. … He deftly weaves the dissonant perspectives and poisonous vocabularies partisans bring to matters of dispute in the subcontinent along with the simple voices and ideas and emotions of the common people.”

— The Tribune (Chandigarh, India)

“Alive and Well in Pakistan is distinguished by its author’s quest for honesty. Ethan Casey stubbornly refuses to embrace the grand theories of others or to indulge his own preconceptions. Instead, he gives us the insights of a singular, clear-eyed, and humane traveler. The result is an intelligent and compelling book.”

— Mohsin Hamid, author of Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist

“Wonderful. What an incredible journey, a model of travel writing. So worldly yet personal. Given our current involvement in the region, it should be read by everyone.”

— Edwidge Danticat

“Alive and Well in Pakistan serves us well in rescuing the very ordinariness of life in Pakistan from the sensationalism and scare-mongering of self-interested pundits, the media, and even politicians.”

— Munis D. Faruqi, Harvard International Review