Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions by John F. Burnett

This book is authored by the directors of the Child Health Institute at the University of Washington. Dennis Lythgoeīy Dimitri Christakis and Frederick Zimmerman While embedded with the First Marine Division Band in Iraq, Burnett tries to give the impression of a sandstorm - but also how reporters deal with misinformation, bad news and profanity. Telling about Hurricane Katrina, Burnett not only speaks of how 'the bizarre becomes normal,' he also explains how satellite phones work. The result is an interesting, longer report on some of the things Burnett has seen around the world. This is material John Burnett saved that didn't get on the air. This book of 'Travels With an NPR Correspondent' is a candid account of major events with behind-the-scenes observations. To that end, it’s okay to say to the world, “enough”, then perhaps go on a nice bike ride or paddle down a river.'Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions' This one tends towards the latter, but for some of us who have encountered suffering and death on a regular basis and perhaps more so than we should to maintain a healthy sense of mental hygiene, John’s book is an affirmation that we who witness atrocities and tragedy are not alone.

Some books are meant to entertain and some to enlighten. What it’s like to be a minister counseling, then walking a man to his death in a Huntsville, Texas state prison. We read of a musician who plays beautiful songs using only a leaf between the fingers of his one remaining hand as he sits on the streets of Mexico City, then the aftermath of his “fame”. There are moments of levity, though brief, given the subject matter, but mainly a close observation of the human element surrounding tragedies, such as the Black men getting high on a rooftop of a flooded house while refusing to go with the uniformed police rescuers or the seemingly progressive fixer-interpreter in Pakistan who bonded with John for weeks, then revealed almost passively that he was supportive of honor killings for women that didn’t fall in line.

It’s a rough read, which took me longer than usual as I took a break after each chapter to refocus on something positive however, John offers a very important and distinct peek into the immeasurably nuanced problems and moral dilemmas that lie behind the large headlines and sound bites that often make up the entirety of a modern-day consumer’s attention span. That said, I feel no compulsion to overly praise or pull punches regarding the book he wrote in 2006 about his coverage of Hurricane Katrina, his times in Guatemala and Honduras during political unrest and issues of grave importance, life, death and suffering in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Waco, Texas and Mexico. I’m friends with John Burnett and also contributed towards an upcoming on-air news story for which he interviewed me and others affected by the current divides in the US, specifically regarding COVID.

Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions by John F. Burnett