Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Prologue -- There's a new kid in town. The burning bush ; Reorienting ; Crossing the bridge ; Ode to Abu Ammar ; Gaza slick ; Photo op ; A room with a view -- The moment and the mask. His majesty ; Let's get some color ; House of Hashem ; Up, up, and away ; Private conversations (I) -- Passing through. TWA flight #847 ; Exile ; Cruising ; Caviar, khat, and cover pix -- Inside terror, Inc. Dance into darkness ; Journalists are used to danger ; He who builds ; Private conversations (II) ; Promise me I won't be touched ; Lebanon -- Travels in Sudan. Sorry, all lines are jammed ; Wau (wow!) ; I don't know what I'm feeling ; You need something to peg the story on -- The striptease. Everybody must get stoned ; Photo-realism, the "real" picture, and the ingathering ; The striptease -- The mother of all battles. What the hell am I doing? ; The sealed room ; The striptease, take 2 -- Epilogue. The old man ; War on another front