Archive - 2015

Finding Neguinho by David Randle (Brazil 1964-66; Brazil staff 1967–69); with illustrations by Mary M. Jones Page Publishing June 2014 256 pages $25.95 (paperback), $9.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Barbara E. Joe (Honduras 2000-03) • In 1964, after college graduation, newlyweds David and Inga Randle, both from Indiana farming families, find themselves far from home in the Peace Corps in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, “bigger than Texas,” a region sharing traits with the American Wild West . . . with disagreements being settled through the barrel of a gun. Also, a military coup has just occurred in Brazil, but is little felt in that remote world. Neighbors call the author “Dr. David,” — as, indeed, Hondurans still call me “Doctora Bárbara” on my annual visits there. He is permitted to drive a Peace Corps 4 x 4 Willy’s  station wagon, and often gives people a lift — who are helpful when . . .

Imagine you are on a plane to a destination you know very little about and you will be living there for two years. On top of that, you don’t know anyone else going on this adventure, you only have a vague idea of what you will be doing, and you are not sure if you even made the right decision to go in the first place. A major comfort, though, is you know that you aren’t the only person having this anxiety because this is just the beginning of a Peace Corps Volunteer’s service. Tales from a Muzungu by Nicholas Duncan tells of the highs and lows of his two-year experience in Uganda from 2010 to 2012 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. In his book, he details a variety of topics including: The atmosphere of Uganda. The the day-to-day life of a Volunteer. What his first impressions were of the . . .

Why ISIS Murdered Kenji Goto BY GEORGE PACKER (Togo 1982-83) Why did ISIS execute a second Japanese hostage? Before the beheading of the journalist Kenji Goto, Japan didn’t think that it was even in a fight with the Islamic State. All Japan had done was contribute a couple of hundred million dollars in humanitarian aid to countries fighting ISIS. Then the man who has come to be known as Jihadi John, the executioner with the London accent seen in several of the group’s videos, threatened death to every Japanese person on the planet as he prepared to slaughter Goto. As a result, a political scientist at the University of Tokyo told the Times, “The cruelty of the Islamic State has made Japan see a harsh new reality. … We now realize we face the same dangers as other countries do.” People in Japan are now calling Kenji Goto’s murder their 9/11. Why did ISIS allow its . . .

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 that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. • The Road to Tamazunchale (Novel – reissue as ebook) by Ron Arias (Peru 1963–65) Bilingual Press September 2014 134 pages $8.69 (Kindle) • Truth Poker: Stories by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991–93) Autumn House Press January 2015 180 pages $17.95 (paperback) • 2,000 Miles Around the Tree of Life: A Naturalist Hikes  the Appalachian Trail (Memoir) by Richard W. Carroll Peace Corps Writers December 2014 126 pages $10.00 (paperback), $8.82 (Kindle) • Lily of Peru (Romance, thriller) by David C. Edmonds (Peru 1963–65) Peace Corps Writers December 2014 402 pages $15.95 (paperback) • Global Political Economy by Eddie James Girdner . . .

ELLEN URBANI (Guatemala 1991-93) is the author of the Peace Corps memoir When I Was Elena (The Permanent Press, 2006), a Book Sense Notable selection documenting her life in Guatemala during the final years of that country’s civil war. She will publish in August, Landfall, a work of historical fiction set in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Her autobiographical essays and short stories have appeared in a variety of bestselling pop-culture anthologies such as Chocolate for a Woman’s Heart. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama, and following the Peace Corps, she earned a master’s degree in art therapy from Maryhurst University, specializing in illness/trauma survival. Her work in this field was the subject of a short documentary, “Paint Me a Future,” which won the Juror’s Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2000, qualifying it for Oscar consideration. Ellen is considered an expert on . . .

The New York Times this morning ran an Obit on Jack Leggett, long time director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In the obituary, it quotes Leggett saying that when he took over the program in 1970 there were a lot of kids out of the army and the Peace Corps enrolling. “They were an undisciplined lot,” he told the Times in a 1979. “They’d say: ‘Don’t tell me about form.’” Among the RPCVs that I know of who attended the Iowa program (and I know there are many more) are Phil Damon (Ethiopia 1963-65); Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67); Richard Wiley (Korea 1967-69);Chuck Lustig (Colombia 1967-68); Bob Shacochis. In the TIMES article, Bob Shacochis is quoted, “If it can be said that any one person was responsible for Iowa City being celebrated as the center of gravity for the workshop culture in the literary life of America, that person was Jack . . .