This is a book to delight Agatha Christie fans. Other readers may enjoy it, but the real magic is getting a behind-the-scenes look at both her life and how she came to some of the settings we later enjoy in her mysteries. For example, she describes her delight in taking the Orient Express from Calais to Istanbul, how she always loved the look of it from afar and was so excited when she got to take it the very first time, and how the charm of it has never left her on subsequent trips. Well, Christie fans know what she did with this train!

Her particular style of writing, with its sharp observations and subtle humor, is just as charming in a non-fiction book as in her mysteries. I felt an overwhelming urge to find some archeological dig and offer to do all the cataloging and photography for them, just like Agatha Christie did on the 5 digs described in this book. ( )

Todo el mundo sabe que Agatha Christie fue una de las más prolíficas y exitosas escritoras de su tiempo. Lo que muchos no saben es que, gracias a su matrimonio con el prestigioso arqueólogo británico Max Mallowan, recorrió todo el Oriente Medio acompañando a su marido. Ven y dime cómo vives es el testimonio escrito de varias temporadas de excavación arqueológica en Siria e Irak, en respuesta a las innumerables preguntas que sus amistades y conocidos le hacían acerca del tipo de vida que llevaban en esos lugares. Las peripecias y aventuras de este grupo de occidentales son narradas por la gran escritora con la agudeza propia de la hipercivilizada Gran Bretaña; porque, al fin y al cabo, ¿qué problema no puede sortearse con una buena dosis de sentido del humor o una taza de té bien cargado?

lovely. Doesn't make any claims to anything in particular, succeeds nicely. Little snapshots - there are lots of segments that start 'today' which aren't differentiated as being separate days from the previous until one gets to a detail that makes it obvious. Doesn't really give any insight into the way that life was, except possibly (and this is a personal one) for the discussion of the dark-room set up. ( )

A nonfictional account of Christie's travels accompanying her second husband Max Mallowan on his archaeological digs in the middle east.

I found it to be a fascinating look at this part of the world before "development" and before Europeans had dug up every last inch of ancient cities. BUT I did find it became a little repetitive about two-thirds of the way through. ( )

Come, Tell Me How You Live (1946) by Agatha Christie Mallowan. Agatha Christie’s novels feature many deaths and ingenious puzzles, but his one has the bodies of tens of thousands scattered about the place and she and her husband have set out to dig up the truth about some of them.
Unlike her normal writing, this is a nonfiction retelling of her experiences on an archaeological dig in Syria in the late 1930’s. She tells of shopping in London for the proper clothing, setting out on the Orient Express for the Middle East, and the preparations for taking on the immense, several year long, expedition . Her husband, Max Mallowan, was a renowned archeologist and this is a retelling of the hardships and misery, and the hilarity found on the way. They and their crew seek out promising “Tells”, mounds on the landscape that cover ancient civilizations. And Roman ruins just won’t do, they seek the ancients of the area. There is no “Indiana Jones” to be found here, just an adventure that brings out an even better writer in Ms. Christie.
When I read about her having a fever of 102 degrees I immediately worried that she had caught the Covid-19, but I supposed local events have seeped into everything I see and hear.
This is a thrilling answer to all the questions asked her about the adventure (hence the title question) told in a surprising humorous and light-hearted manner. A very good read indeed. ( )