I worked in Kuwait in the 1980s and enjoyed my time there very much so was interested to read this book. It was refreshing to see a more positive view of Arabs being given by an American. I enjoyed most of the writer’s anecdotes and I understand that the main aim of the book was to be light-hearted and humorous. Personally I would have liked a few more descriptions of what the author saw when he visited Kuwait.

I wasn’t moving in the same circles as the writer but enough of his experiences were similar to mine to make the whole ring true. The only difference was in the visit to Iraq which is threaded through the book as a way of creating some tension. My visit was much more pleasant but possibly I was there just slightly later, just when they were hoping to welcome tourists before Saddam’s invasion scuppered that.

I also visited after the liberation in 1991 and saw more damage than the author apparently did but I guess it all depends where you visited. For example, my apartment had been looted and vandalized. His description of the burning oil-fields and the so-called ‘Turkey shoot’ area matched my recollections.