The Man Who Tried to Save the World: The Dangerous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Fred Cuny

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Summary: Gripping story of Fred Cuny and Chechnya
Review: A great work of non-fiction that is part adventure in Chechnya and part biography of Fred Cuny, the "Master of Disaster". I first encountered Anderson in an article that appeared in Harper's in 1997 and have been on the lookout for this book ever since. Aside from a truly compelling story (Fred Cuny was, no doubt, larger than life), Anderson brings considerable writing skills to this book. He joins a handful of others (William Langewiesche, Robert D. Kaplan) who have that rare ability to inform the reader in an engaging style no matter what the subject is.

This is not just a biography of Cuny. It is a story of the tragedy in Chechnya as well. Anderson informs on both counts without pushing a particular agenda. What is amazing is that he does this in spite of the fact that begins the book by confessing that he believes Cuny is a genuine hero. Yet he leaves the reader to form their own judgment on this and other aspects of the story.

Some have complained that the book is repetitive near the end (it seems as though the book were actually written to be serialized in five or six long magazine pieces, which would explain the repetition). The bottom line here is that the repetition that I noticed was either helpful and/or satisfying from a literary standpoint.

Aside from the author's great writing, you should read this book as a responsible citizen of the world and member of the human race. Fred Cuny may not have been Mother Theresa when it came to his ego, but his heart was definitely in the right place, and that big Texas personality got things done that, as Anderson and others have pointed out, saved lives.

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Summary: A gripping and tragic adventure story.
Review: This is a true mystery story about the disappearance of American relief worker (and spy?) Fred Cuny in the cloak-and-dagger environment of Chechnya during the Russian assault in 1995. The book is comparable in many ways to Into Thin Air, although the subject matters are completely unrelated. In both books, the authors themselves took enormous personal risks in getting their stories. Both are true tales of action and adventure incorporating a lot of interesting background information, which is skillfuly woven into the narrative withour slowing down the story. Both read like novels (although they're better written than the vast majority of novels). But Mr. Anderson's book, in the end, is more engrossing and more important. I picked it up on a Friday evening and finished in the early hours of the following Sunday morning; I just couldn't stop until I was done. The book has everything--exotic locales, well-described; bizarre and mysterious personalities; and the constant tension of danger and suspense. Most admirably, Mr. Anderson lays out all of the known facts about Fred Cuny's disappearance, and in the end offers his own conclusion(which is plausible but not airtight), but fully equips the reader to consider the alternative possibilities for him or herself. This is the kind of book that you will devour and then stuff into the Christmas stockings of your friends and family. P.S. In case Mr. Anderson reads this: Why did you attach so much weight in your analysis to the purported fact that the military commander of the Chechens was a "good friend" of Fred Cuny? This "fact" seems to be based on nothing but Cuny's own impression that they hit it off during his first trip in February. But in the environment you have so ably described, where nothing is as it seems and everyone seems to harbor a hidden agenda, Cuny's belief could have been wishful thinking. And if he was wrong, there is no real reason to foist the blame so high up the chain. Great book!

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Summary: a little less author, a little more Fred
Review: This is definitely a captivating tale about a horrid and bizarre situation, but one wishes for a little less of the author's not so interesting tale. The author strikes me as a bit too macho, exaggerating the risks and missing out on important details of Fred Cuny's life (focusing too much on the macho aspects that the author clearly favors). Definitely worth a read but don't be turned off by the author's overblown bravado.