The Arts Fuse
From Life Itself is an impressive achievement, critical if one wants to understand modern Turkey. Hansen never fails to mention the historical events that drive the engine that has led to autocracy, but she also, to her credit, continually gives her book a personal, emotional touch . . . I’ve never read a book about Turkey […]
The Wall Street Journal
Passionate and exhaustive.
Washington Independent Review of Books
Hansen provides an immersive experience . . . A nuanced and authentic depiction . . . Captivating.
The Times (London)
Hansen writes fluently and colorfully and has a sharp eye for detail . . . The narrative really soars [. . .] when the author wanders the streets of Karagumruk and speaks to those who live there. The success of microhistories such as this hinges on its characters, and Hansen provides a colorful cast.
Literary Review
The fruit of a half-decade of reporting, From Life Itself allows Turks to speak for themselves . . . Hansen intertwines these personal anecdotes and explanations with the history of the AK Party and shows how Erdoğan built his power on the land, ‘his dark materials’. Her diagnosis is on the mark.
Pod Save the World
Everybody needs to buy [this book] . . . [Full of] great writing, amazing personalities.
The New York Times Book Review Podcast
[Suzy Hansen is] one of my favorite, never-miss bylines . . . [From Life Itself] is so grounded in people and life that it actually makes what could otherwise be a very abstract, cultural, or political analysis feel very real and very relatable. And I think that is the best kind of journalism.
Foreign Policy
[Hansen] goes to remarkable lengths to achieve a degree of realism that wasn’t present in Turkey coverage in previous generations of journalists . . . [Her] discussions are always grounded in some kind of real person she has built a relationship with . . . Hansen is arguing that depth brings its own breadth.
Ian Bremmer
For readers interested in geopolitics, this is the kind of book that reminds you that big political shifts rarely feel ‘big’ while you’re living through them . . . Hansen writes with empathy for people navigating a country that’s becoming more polarized and more self-conscious about its identity, a dynamic anyone watching global politics will […]
The Economist
Through Karagümrük, Ms Hansen offers a window into the Turkey he has created. Few books in English have captured its texture better than this one.