Archive - March 28, 2013

The Ride by Dean Mahon (Cameroon 1974-78) Self-published 163 pages $7.99 paperback, $2.99 ebook 2012 Reviewed by Deidre Swesnik (Mali 1996-98) Dean Mahon prefers another world. At least he did when he was climbing out of a eight-week coma, following a disease of unknown origin that he picked up during his travels. Mahon had been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon three decades earlier, but this was not a Peace Corps experience. Mahon was traveling to Ukraine and Russia for work when he came down with something that the doctors still can’t diagnose, even today.  He fell terribly ill and was put into a medically-induced coma followed by months of hospital and rehab stays.  More than once his family and friends were told to prepare for the worst. In The Ride, Dean Mahon describes the vivid dream “world” he experienced while in the coma and afterwards. He captures the misplaced . . .