In the remote pirate havens of Somalia, Bahadur sits down and talks with some of the pirates, their cheeks bulging with khat (the local drug of choice), their cellphones ringing as the men conduct their business.
In The Pirates of Somalia, Bahadur ventures to Puntland, a region in northeastern Somalia, and tells of the pirates' lives beyond the attack skiffs: how they spend their money, how they conduct business, how they think and why they risk their lives in often suicidal missions.
The world sees nothing but opportunistic bands of local bandits, but Jay Bahadur, the only Western journalist to venture so deeply into this world, truly sees how it operates. But the recent gangs of daring, ragtag pirates off the coast of Somalia, hijacking huge ships owned by international conglomerates, have brought the scourge of piracy into the modern era. The one advantage I had over seasoned reporters is that I wasn't constrained by the insurance costs and tight deadlines that come with working for a major news agency as a result, I was able to spend three months in the fray, and gain a perspective on piracy (and Somalia in general) that no other outsider was granted."For centuries, stories of pirates have captured the imagination of people everywhere. I was immediately shocked by how few Western journalists were in the country during my first six-week trip, the only other foreigners I encountered were a team of Australian cameramen on my final day in Somalia. Somalia was a great candidate, and when piracy exploded in September 2008 I quit my job and bought a ticket. Every established journalist I spoke to advised me to skip journalism school and make my bones by writing freelance in crazy places.
At the time (late 2008), I was working out of my parents' house on a contract basis for a Chicago-based market research firm and trying semi-desperately to break into journalism. Jay Bahadur: The terrifying spectre of the agonizingly dull life that awaited me if I didn't do something with myself. Jeff Glor: What inspired you to write the book?
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