1001 Nights in Iraq (2007)

Harrowing doesn't begin to describe Shant Kenderian's 10-year ordeal. After living in Chicago for two years, the 17-year-old Armenian Christian Iraqi went home in 1980 to visit his estranged father. While there, he was forced into the Iraqi navy during Saddam Hussein's war with Iran. When Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990, he was press-ganged back into the navy. Then things got worse. In 1001 Nights in Iraq, Kenderian writes matter-of-factly, with the stoicism of someone who has endured the seemingly unendurable. But his story is mind-blowing enough to keep you turning the pages. B+