Argo (the book, not the movie)

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As a rule, I do not enjoy reading non-fiction (with a few exceptions). Argo was a strange case. I have tried to start reading this book two or three times, but always put it down, bored by too many details about minor characters' lives. However, this past week, I was snowed in without any other entertainment, and so decided to give Argo a proper chance. 

The subtitle says it all. Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History takes place in Iran, 1979. Iranian militants storm the U.S. embassy and take all American workers hostage. Six Americans manage to escape from the consulate next door and take shelter at the Canadian embassy. However, militants are combing the city, killing or taking hostage any Americans they find. CIA chief of disguise Antonio Mendez comes up with the plan to disguise the hidden Americans as a Hollywood location scouting crew to sneak them out of the country.

The first half of the book I found slow and boring. There was a lot of set up (way too much set up), which included a history lesson which was informative but way too long. Also, whenever a new character was introduced, the book went into a side tangent about said character's past, which usually lasted for a page or two. The character would end up having little or no importance to the events that play out during the course of the book. The many names and backstories faded together, and made the first half of the book both confusing and slow-paced.

However, once the author starts describing his own escapades as an exfiltration specialist (getting people out of their country usually through the means of clever disguises), the book starts picking up. Once his risky plan of disguising six untrained American diplomats as Hollywood business people is put into action, the book is hard to put down. The different methods of disguises used by the CIA at that time is really interesting to read about, and the account of the escape of the fugitive Americans is intense and fast-paced. When Argo stops introducing numerous side characters, it starts getting really, really good. I probably wouldn't read this book again, but I am glad that I read it. I learned a lot about the American hostage situation in Iran, something I knew almost nothing about previously, and I also found the author's exfiltration methods really interesting to read about. If you pick up this book, brave through the first half of the book…it gets a lot better.