A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl

Written by Mariane Pearl

Narrated by Mariane Pearl

Now a major motion picture starring Angelina Jolie!

The unforgettable story of two journalists who fell in love with their work and with each other, a portrait of a partnership built on the ideals of love, truth, and justice—and a critical look at the methods and structure of the Al-Qaeda network.

For five weeks, the world waited for news about Danny Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan—and then came the broadcast of his shocking murder. The complete account of his abduction, the intense effort to rescue him, and the aftermath are told here in astonishing detail and with courage and insight by his surviving wife, Mariane.

Together, Mariane and Danny Pearl traveled across the globe, dedicated to journalism that increases the understanding of international politics and ethnic and religious conflict. In the end, Danny was caught in the dangerous fissure where warring cultures, politics, and ideologies collide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Sep 30, 2003
• ISBN: 9780743569408

Mariane Pearl

Mariane Pearl is an award-winning documentary film director who produced and hosted a daily radio show for Radio France Internationale and has written for Télérama. She lives in New York.

Reviews for A Mighty Heart

[nancynova · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

rabck from dove-i-libri; I don’t remember much about this journalist's kidnapping and death. The story is told by his widow, who was also a journalist in Pakistan and pregnant. A lot of information about how journalism operates, and her position that the Wall Street Journal was not prepared to handle a crisis situation despite having foreign correspondents in war areas. As the week tick by, and the investigation continued, who do you trust? She's up against terrorists, dysfunctional governments, everyone seeming to have their own agenda and a clash of cultures.

[squeakychu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was really painful reading this book as I already knew the story of Danny Pearl. His wife Mariane was very brave to share the details of those trying days leading up to Danny's death. I wish a happy life for Mariane and Danny's son who will only have to read through this book to know what a special mom he has and what a special dad he had. This book left me very uncertain. I got the feeling while reading it that Pakistan must be quite a dangerous country. I felt (kind of as I did when I read Mohsin Hamid's novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist) that I would not know for certain whom to trust in that country. Usually I tend to be a very trusting soul. I continue to feel unsettled as, still to this day, American contractor Warren Weinstein, who is local to my own area, is being held in captivity after being kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan. When will this insanity end?The end of the book had many notes of support to Mariane. Some were from people I did not know; others were from recognizable names such as Shimon Peres and Laura Bush. It took a while to get through these letters, but it was probably important to include them as they were an uplifting note to an otherwise deeply sad story.

[briannad84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Such a wonderful book! I have no idea why I'd never heard of this as it was happening though. Mariane is a terrific writer and the whole book kept me engaged, even though it was a work of nonfiction. It definately makes me want to read more into everything that's going on (and has gone on) in the Middle East. My husband was a soldier and deployed twice to Iraq, so you only hear about the negative of what they experiance, not a whole lot about the people that were born and live there everyday that have to deal with this stuff (even though this happened in Pakistan.) I Googled Daniel Pearl and of course one of the first things I see in search suggestions is the video. I didn't look at it at all, but it is very disrespectful. Will definately recommend this book and would like to check out the movie sometime. Loved the letters at the end!

[azuremountain_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Moving first person account. Honest and forthcoming. I am fascinated by the relationship between Ms. Pearl and the Captain. The level of trust and intimacy in seeing her at her strongest and weakest.

[agentjade · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The pictue Pearl paints of her husband is nothing short of inspiring; I found myself wishing I'd done something half so ideological and fulfilling with my own life. Well-written, wih an engaging and beautiful frankness. I found the beginning to be better than the end (which sort of peters out), but I suppose that's to be expected when telling this kind of story in a linear way.

[laurafitzgerald · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Phew. I thought I knew the ending to this story, but it was only the ending the media chose to give us. This is Mariane's (ongoing) ending, and it's a much better one. My feelings regarding this book are much too complex to sum up in a few sentences, so I'll let the five-star rating symbolize its worthiness. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.