An American journalist recaptures the turmoil in the Irrawaddy delta following Cyclone Nargis... "All too often, fact in Burma is stranger than fiction. Everything is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma, by Emma Larkin. Penguin Press, 2010. P 288. Emma Larkin, a pseudonym for an American journalist based in Bangkok, knows this all too well. Her first book, ?Finding George Orwell in Burma,? compares modern Burmese political history to Orwell?s dystopian novels. Burma?s rulers consistently outperformed Orwell?s fictional characters in terms of sheer brutality and oppression. However, not even Orwell could have envisioned the incompetence and callousness of the Burmese military government?s initial response to Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. While Burmese villagers struggled to survive, the military blocked foreign aid and held a constitutional referendum. For her new book, ?Everything is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma,? Larkin relies upon interviews and field research in order to narrate the story of Burma?s worst natural disaster...The second part of the book summarizes recent Burmese history, from the governmental move to Naypyidaw to the Saffron Revolution. Burma watchers can probably skim over this section..."