Although the emotional effects the terrifying events Ishmael Beah experienced may have been real, some of the actual circumstances were clearly exaggerated, including amplifying the severity of the situation after the rebels attacked Freetown, and the amount of time he spent as a soldier (that is, if he spent any time at all.) Muctaru Wurie, the author of “Ishmael Beah’s Memoirs of Sierra Leone War – A Long Way From The Truth,” lived in Freetown during the same time, and described the situation much differently than what is depicted in A Long Way Gone. Wurie says the day after the May 25 coup, everyone had gone to the center of town to look at what had happened the previous day. (1) Wurie even talked to a student who was taking exams during
