Jay Bahadur is a parent’s nightmare. In his mid-20’s, about the same age as my kids, he heads off to Somalia to investigate modern piracy. Is he nuts? Does he have a death wish? Did he pack clean underwear?

Actually, I don’t know the answer to those questions, but they are the kind D’Aun and I would ask if our kids ran off to crazy places. Oh … wait … our kids have run off to crazy places. Nevermind.

Anyway, Bahadur has written the compelling The Pirates of Somalia and it’s fascinating. What I really like is that the book is written without a lot of the author’s bias. Bahadur allows the pirates to speak for themselves, as well as government authorities who battle the pirates. This is a book that uses journalism tools the way they should be used, allowing the story to tell itself instead of inserting the authors slant on things. It came with some risk but the payoff is significant because it shares the full story that few hear.

When piracy became front page news, I heard two narratives. One said that Somali pirates are cruel, greedy, drugged up young men who have no respect for the law. This narrative said we have to stop them and stop them now, with brute force and no regard for international boundaries.

The other narrative said that Somalia has been a victim of international abuse, a victim of overfishing, and dumping ground for both toxic and nuclear wastes. Fishermen had no choice but to resort to piracy, and we’re blaming the victim.

Bahadur cuts through a lot of that and shares the truth. Yes, Somalia fishing reserves were violated and abused. Yes, dumping did occur. But neither substantially increased piracy. A failed state — brought on by clan warfare — was the biggest contributor to a system of lawlessness in the country.

On the flip side, yes these are young men who have addictions and little respect for the law. But they are also keenly aware that piracy doesn’t have a great future and would gladly jump to another job if they could just get one. Few of them are prone to real violence.

He does all of this while also capturing the nuances of cultural differences. Bribery is viewed differently in Somalia than it is here. Identification with family and clan is important. Pirates don’t wear eye patches (I’m so disappointed).

I’ve never experienced piracy, thank God, but I have spent enough time in failed states to understand that reality seldom fits a tidy narrative. There is seldom one right answer for fixing problems. There are lots of answers, many equally good. Just as there are many reasons for how the country got to that point. Bahadur seems to capture that in his book.

Besides, it’s about pirates. Argh …