Ayres, Chris 1975-

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AYRES, Chris 1975-

PERSONAL:

Born 1975 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Education: Attended University of Hull and City University, London.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Hollywood, CA. Agent—Inkwell Management, 521 5th Ave., 26th Fl., New York, NY 10175. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Times, London, England, former media business correspondent and Wall Street correspondent, current Los Angeles correspondent, 1997—.

WRITINGS:

War Reporting for Cowards (memoir), Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 2005.

ADAPTATIONS:

A movie of War Reporting for Cowards is being developed by Blueprint Pictures and Warner Brothers.

SIDELIGHTS:

When British journalist Chris Ayres was asked to cover the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq for the London Times, he reluctantly agreed. He was transferred from Los Angeles, where he worked as a Hollywood correspondent, to Iraq. War Reporting for Cowards is his humorous account of his experience. The memoir recounts Ayres's early journalism career, including time spent as a newsroom intern and a reporter in New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Ayres also recalls his preparation for the war assignment, during which he purchased a bright yellow tent; he later realized that the tent would serve as an easy target in the desert. Finally, Ayres tells of his nine days on the front lines of the war, where he was embedded with a Marine battalion who dubbed themselves the "Long Distance Death Dealers."

Many critics applauded the book. "Though other embedded reporters have written books, Ayres is unique in his humor-driven and slightly sarcastic slant," acknowledged Leigh Mihlrad in the Library Journal. Anthony Swofford, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, felt similarly, stating that "Ayres's book is heartbreakingly funny and often tender and always insightful about the job of journalism and the dirtier job demanded of the Long Distance Death Dealers." Although a Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that the book's "weakest aspect is the too-long tangent of his rise as a young reporter," New York Times Book Review critic Gary Shteyngart pointed out that "once we finally get to Iraq, Ayres is at his journalistic and comic best." Finally, a Kirkus Reviews critic concluded that Ayres "delivers a first-rate glimpse of how terrifying are the wages of war."

In an interview with Time magazine, Ayres spoke of his experience: "I was struck dumb on the first night of the war. I was just absolutely terrified. Nothing prepares you for being suddenly on the front line of an invasion, with 200 cannons going off, and people returning fire, and being in the pitch black in the desert, knowing that you're just going forward across the line of departure, and into the complete unknown on the other side. Nothing prepares you for that level of anxiety." Ayres continued: "I think most of the embeds [sic] felt it. I, perhaps, because I didn't really want to be there, had it slightly worse."