Oxford Dictionary defines non-fiction as "prose writing that is based on facts, real events and real people." After I finished reading The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers by Anat Berko, I thought about the extend to which this book is a form of non-fictional writing. Berko does interview Palestinian suicide bombers in prisons. She meets with real people and presents to the reader what the suicide bombers said and felt on their way to committing these suicides bombings. She does overgeneralize and make assumptions on some of the things that she thinks. The book is a reflection and a personal narrative of what Berko captured from the testimonies of the suicide bombers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/health/policy/11tobacco.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

An interesting article I found this morning that relates back to our discussion of imagery vs. text.

“'The use of graphic warnings makes no contribution to the awareness of these risks and serves only to stigmatize smokers and denormalize smoking,” said Anthony Hemsley, a vice president at Commonwealth Brands, the maker of USA Gold cigarettes.

I think that something that Berko does well is shed another light on the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. She doesn’t provide many solutions (with the exception of the short paragraph at the end of the conclusion) but she does portray the story from an angle that is unusual for many westerners. I think that we get so stuck in our own opinions and beliefs about this issue that we forget that the opposition also has relevant things to say and ideas which we do not hear on a regular basis.

I came across an online book on Tripod entitled Suicide Bombers: The Psychological, Religious and Other Imperatives compiled by Mary Sharp. The book has an article in it by Ofed Grosbar called "The Drama of the Suicide Terrorist," which reads: