New Books by Peace Corps writers — October, November, December 2018

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — Click on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards.

We are now including a one-sentence description — provided by the author — for the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers  1) to order the book and 2) to volunteer to review it. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to Marian at peacecorpsworldwide@gmail.com, and we’ll send you a copy along with a few instructions.

•

Figuring in the Figure
(poetry)
Ben  Berman (Zimbabwe 1998–2000)
Able Muse Press
2017
88 pages
$18.95 (paperback), $9.99 (Kindle)

The poems in Figuring in the Figure are laden with aphorisms, puns, and witticisms meditate on shapes, angles, thinking about thinking, marriage, and the joys and trials of bringing a daughter into the world, among others.

•

Honorable Exit
By Thurston Clarke (Tunisia 1968)
Random House
448 pages
April 30, 2019 (available for pre-order)
$30.00 (paperback), $14.99 (Kindle)

A groundbreaking revisionist history of the last days of the Vietnam War that reveals the acts of American heroism that saved more than one hundred thousand South Vietnamese from communist revenge

•

The Piercing
by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64)
Macabre, Ink Productions
December 16, 2018– Can Pre-order
Kindle $3.99

 

Betty Sue is an innocent young girl who acts out the agony of Christ once a week. It is haunting and fascinating to millions. The TV says it’s a miracle. The Church says it’s fake. But this is no charade — from her head, hands, feet and side pours her blood. Witnessing this agonizing phenomenon is Father Stephen Kinsella, a Catholic priest whose faith is already unsteady. Is she divine? Or damned?

•

More Than Birding: Observations from Antarctica, Madagascar, and Bhutan
Harriet Denison (Tanzania 1966–67)
Peace Corps Writers
November 2018
318 pages
$15.00 (paperback); $7.99 (Kindle)

A travel memoir of Denison’s adventures on three continents observing birds, animals, and unique breathtaking landscapes found no place else on earth.

•

This Red Land (novel)
Arthur B. Dobrin (Kenya 1965–67)
Nsemia Inc
February 2018
340 pages
$20.00 (paperback)

A riveting, tragic tale that bridges the lives of richly developed characters in New York and Kenya across decades marked by violent political and social upheavals.

•

Secrets of the Moon: A Novel
Tema  Encarnacion (Dominican Republic 2000–01)
CreateSpace
September 2018
186 pages
$9.99 (paperback), $2.99 (Kindle)

An earnest, sometimes painful, yet hopeful tale that mirrors the experiences of countless families seeking safety from extreme violence in Central America that shows what it means to sacrifice for family and future and rebuild, and will enthrall young adult and adult readers alike.

•

Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, Volume III
Edited by Clifford Garstang (South Korea 1976-77)
Press 53 Publisher
October 16, 2018
196 pages
$19.95 (paperback)

 

With a theme of “It’s an Adventurous World,” this exciting addition to the Everywhere Stories series takes readers on a journey around the globe: to a mysterious discovery in Mongolia, to an expedition in the Australian Outback, to revolution in Chile, and to more stories in countries on every continent. Six RPCVs have stories in this edition.

•

Breaking Kola: An Inside View of African Customs
Katherine Onyemelukwe (Nigeria 1962–64)
Peace Corps Writers
November 2018
251 pages
$14.62 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle)

In this slightly fictionlized intimate portrayal of family members and friends, I reveal the secrets that build the strong sense of community in an African village; these are the ties that still bind me today!

•

Tacoma Stories
Richard Wiley (Korea 1967-69)
Bellevue Literary Press
272 pages
February 12, 2019 – Can pre-order
$16.99 (paperback)

 

“This linked set of seriocomic stories that hopscotches across a half-century . . . emphasizes unlikely transformations over time―and, as the title suggests, the role of place in those transformations.” ― Kirkus Reviews

•

What Sahel Am I Doin’ Here?: 30 Years of Misadventures in Africa
Steve  Wisecarver (Senegal 1976–78; Staff-CD Madaagascar, Kenya 2008–2013)
Booklocker.com
134 pages
$13.95 (paperback)

“What Sahel Am I Doin’ Here?” is a collection of light-hearted tales that captures the exotic, bizarre, comic and even magical nature of daily life on the African continent; and it is the author’s tribute to the resilience, joy and adventurous spirit of the African peoples.

•