During the Gulf War in 1991, through long nights of relentless bombing and the disappearance of all amenities, Iraqi artist Nuha al-Radi began keeping a diary from her Baghdad home. In it, she captures scenes of surreal intensity as birds fly upside down, citizens feast royally on food about to spoil and randy dogs receive fan letters thanks to CNN. The diaries continue throughout the ensuing bleak years under sanctions, depicting the difficulties of day-to-day survival but also the funny and macabre goings-on about town. Her entries continue into exile and end in November 2002.