Archive - 2010

Colonel Susan Luz, the highest-ranking female member of her Massachusetts Army Reserve unit, was 56 when she received the letter deploying her unit to Iraq. She packed her bags, kissed her husband goodbye, and set off on a journey that would test her leadership as an officer, her compassion as a nurse, and her resolve as a witness to the brutalities of modern warfare. Her 15 months on the ground during the surge in Iraq in 2006 and 2007 form the keystone of a book of life of service. A life of service began in Brazil as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1972-75 working in Quixada in the interior of the country. While a PCV she was attacked and raped by a  gang of teenagers, all three of whom were caught and jailed and sentenced to life in prison. It took her best friend, who joined the Peace Corps with her, a week to reach Quixada to be . . .

Necon E-Books is proud to announce that The Piercing by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64) is now available. A young stigmatic girl experiencing the agony of Christ begs the question — is she divine, or is she damned? The Piercing is equal parts theology, philosophy, horror, suspense, love, sex and gore, brilliantly woven together by a master storyteller; in short, amidst the long lineage of horror novelists to use religion as source material, John Coyne truly stands out. Order your copy today, you will NOT be disappointed! Matt Bechtel Production Manager, Necon E-Books

The purpose of the New Mexico Book Awards is to honor great books from New Mexico and the Southwest. Each year, the New Mexico Book Awards Program honors special New Mexico authors for their special contributions to New Mexico’s book community. In 2010, the New Mexico Book Awards presented awards to two RPCV writers. They are, (and congratulations to you both!): For Novel — adventure or drama Melanie Sumner (Senegal 1988-90) for The Ghost of Milagro Creek published by Algonquin Books Fiction, Other Martha Egan (Venezuela 1967-69) for La Ranfla & Other New Mexico Stories published by Papalote Press

Peace Corps Chronology: 1961–2010 by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975–77) iUniverse $22.95 – hardback; $13.95 – paperback; $9.99 – ebook 120 pages November 2010 Reviewed by P. David Searles (Staff: CD Philippines 1971–74, PC/W 1974–76) A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN FIFTY YEARS, as demonstrated by Lawrence F. Lihosit’s superb book:  Peace Corps Chronology, 1961-2010. Lihosit has carefully sifted through an immense cache of Peace Corps data from a wide variety of sources, some of which are familiar and some of which were previously unknown, at least to me. In the book he gives a detailed account of the critical happenings — year by year, decade by decade — from 1961 to the present. The book will be read in two ways. The first, and this is probably what most of us will immediately do, is check out what he has included from our years with the Peace Corps. For me . . .

A Hint of Light by David L. Meth (Korea 1971–72) CreateSpace Writers’ Productions $14.95 303 pages August 2010 Reviewed by Barbara E. Joe (Honduras 2000–03) THIS NOVEL, REPORTEDLY WRITTEN by an award-winning playwright, chronicles the life of a black-Korean street boy, Byung-suk, born in 1960, who dreams of living in America, his unknown GI father’s home. Indeed, with its prolific dialogue and rapidly shifting graphic scenes, the book has aspects of a play or even of a film script. According to the cover blurb, the author, David Meth, spent years doing research, including in Korea and Japan. The narrative starts out with a bang, offering a gritty, dramatic tale of the squalor, violence, and unrelenting challenges of young Byung-suk’s struggle for survival in an Oliver Twistian underworld of prostitution, thievery, drunkenness, extortion, and physical deprivation. The early sections, depicting the tumultuous post-war era of the author’s Volunteer service in Korea . . .

Next week on this site we’ll be publishing a review of Lawrence Lihosit’s new book, Peace Corps Chronology: 1961–2010. The review is by P. David Searles (CD Philippines 197174; PC/W 1974-76) who writes of Lihosit’s book: “A lot can happen in fifty years, as demonstrated by Lawrence F. Lihosit’s superb book: Peace Corps Chronology, 1961-2010. Lihosit has carefully sifted through an immense cache of Peace Corps data from a wide variety of sources, some of which are familiar and some of which were previously unknown, at least to me. In the book he gives a detailed account of the critical happenings – year by year, decade by decade – from 1961 to the present.” In anticipation of David’s review, I emailed Larry a few questions about why he undertook the task of doing all of this research on the agency. Here’s what he had to say. What is Peace Corps . . .

Thoreau the Land Surveyor by Patrick Chura (Lithuania 1992-94) University Press of Florida $34.95 212 pages October 2010 Reviewed by Mike Tidwell (Zaire 1985–87) MOST OF US WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE HENRY DAVID THOREAU was as pure in his personal life as the natural world he extolled in books like Walden and The Maine Woods. But the man supported his writing habit by working as a land surveyor, actually laboring for some of the same companies who clear-cut the woods around Walden Pond and built the railroads that hastened the industrial dominance he so detested. Yet somehow author Patrick Chura makes sense of all these contradictions while creating another improbability: a scholarly book that’s as beautiful as it is unput-downable. Chura is himself the son of a land surveyor. He accompanied his dad on many surveying outings in and around St. Louis, Missouri during the 1970s and 80s. He is . . .

Over the last several years, authors Angene Wilson & Jack Wilson (Liberia 1962–64) interviewed Returned Peace Corps Volunteers from Kentucky,  and this coming March, 2011, the University of Kentucky Press will publish: Voices From The Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteerswith a Foreword by Senator Christopher Dodd (Dominican Republic 1966–68). Recently I emailed Angene and Jack and asked them about their book and how it all came about. This is what they had to say. • Angene and Jack — why did you decide to do the book? Actually we decided to do the interviews first.  In spring 2004 I — Angene — was retiring after 29 years as a professor at the University of Kentucky, and looking for a new project. Jack was already retired. Both Jack and I were Liberia I volunteers and he was staff in Sierra Leone and Washington and then Director in Fiji and . . .

Country Driving: A Journey Though China From Farm to Factoryby Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) made the The New York Times Book Review(December 5, 2010) list of 100 notable books for the year. This book, the third of Hessler’s “China books,” chronicles the effects of an expanding road network on the rapidly changing lives of individual Chinese.