My story begins in the wilds of eastern Afghanistan, where I was embedded with US forces. During a foot patrol through a small village, I heard a loud “WHOOSH!” I turned around to see a rocket-propelled grenade screaming toward me. Frozen by fear, the ordinance struck me in the side of the head, instantly blinding me in one eye and crushing several bones in my face. By freak luck, the explosive did not detonate and I managed to capture the attack on my video camera.

“Kissed by the Taliban” is a humorous, heartfelt, sometimes cringe-inducing memoir of a war reporter’s fight to overcome injuries both on and off the battlefield.

But it is not a book about war. Rather, It is a story about hurt, loss, unrequited love, and self-doubt set in uncommon locations: the perilous mountains of Afghanistan, the waves and coral reefs of Australia and icy, snow covered highways of the American East Coast seen from behind the handlebars of my motorcycle.