Brassier than Gloria Steinem in the NOW era, Deborah Copaken Kogan, an international photojournalist who wielded her camera throughout the '80s and part of the '90s, has written a vivid, spirited account of the remarkable career that took her around the world. A rollercoaster ride of a read, Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War is an accomplished narrative told with the wisdom of a woman who lived many lives in a single decade. A Harvard graduate whose work has appeared in Time and Newsweek, Kogan shot everything from the wars in Pakistan and Afghanistan to the collapse of the Romanian government. Shutterbabe follows the course of her career a succession of extraordinary assignments interspersed with intense, sometimes simultaneous, love affairs. Indeed, a veritable United Nations of men appear in the narrative, some of whom accompanied Kogan on her travels and aided in her transformation from girl to woman. It's hard to say what is more remarkable about this memoir the lively adventures of Kogan or the reasoned look at history she presents via her reckless personal experiences. By book's end, she struggles to balance the responsibilities of work and motherhood perhaps her toughest assignment yet.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
