Archive - February 8, 2015

What the Zhang Boys Know: A Novel in Stories by Clifford Garstang (Korea 1976–77) Press 53 2012 201 pages $17.95 (paperback) Reviewed by Jan Worth-Nelson (Tonga 76-78) • Clifford Garstang calls What the Zhang Boys Know a “novel in stories,” and it’s an appropriate characterization. The 12 linked tales all take place in and around a sprawling condo complex in Washington, D.C. called the Nanking Mansion, and the characters within compellingly weave in and out of all the intersecting plots. The big old edifice serves effectively as narrative frame and plot architecture. As in any good novel, the inhabitants of Nanking Mansion, a colorful mix of artists, writers, young professionals and dislocated immigrants, are absorbing and complex. One roots for them, cares about them, despairs of their tragedies major and minor, and celebrates their vindications. In the launching story, we meet everyone in the midst of a complicated melee in . . .

In December, James Beebe (Philippines from 1968-73) published his “Peace Corps memoir” Those Were the Days — A Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines in the Late ‘60s with Peace Corps Writers. I interviewed James about his impressive accomplishments, and about writing his memoir. — Marian • What was your Peace Corp project assignment? I was an Education Volunteer — elementary science, rice production, part-time college teaching. . Tell us about where you lived and worked prior to Peace Corps and  your educational background. I grew up mostly in New Orleans, Louisiana and Panama City, Florida. My education includes: before Peace Corps I was a student at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida; Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana; and New York University; after Peace Corps, I was a graduate student at Stanford University where I earned an M.A. in anthropology, an M.A. in Food Research (International Development . . .