Book Reviews – Page 2 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review | IF YOU TURN TO LOOK BACK by Tom Hazuka (Chile)

Dec 12 2023

If You Turn to Look Back: A Memoir and Meditation by Tom Hazuka (Chile 1978-80) Woodhall Press 388 pages September 2023 $19.95 Paperback; $9.99 (Kindle) If You Turn to Look Back combines memoir with political, social, and economic investigations of what it means to be an American and a citizen of the world. American influence is ubiquitous in South America, and If You Turn to Look Back explores these relationships in a personal context. For Tom Hazuka was once part of that influence, from 1978-1980 as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chile, first in the capital of Santiago, then in the far northern city of Arica, near the Peruvian border. In a chain of events springing from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in 2003 Hazuka returned to Chile to examine changes in the country, the people and himself. He left Chile at twenty-four and returned at forty-seven. Every human knows what it’s . . .

REVIEW | HUSTLE: THE MAKING OF A FREELANCE WRITER by Lawrence Grobel (Ghana)

Dec 11 2023

HUSTLE: The Making of a Freelance Writer by Lawrence Grobel (Ghana 1968-71) Independently Published 358 pages August 2023 $19.95 (Paperback), $5.99 (Kindle) reviewed by Rita Settimo • This is a fascinating collection of pieces written over Lawrence Grobel’s entire career, starting back when he was 15 and won a writing contest sponsored by Newsday, and got to meet Robert Kennedy when he was the Attorney General. Reflecting on his life as a freelance writer, even he’s amazed that he managed to survive for six decades. He writes instructively about all the pitfalls and the difficulties of freelancing, including the rejections, and the need to persevere and believe in yourself. He includes and discusses the articles, essays, and interviews that allowed him to keep on going. Whether it was that first published essay, or his first magazine profile about an African sculptor from Ghana written when he was a Peace Corps Volunteer, . . .

Review | ST. PETERSBURG BAY BLUES by Douglas Buchacek (Russia)

Nov 26 2023

St. Petersburg Bay Blues Douglas Buchacek (Russia 2001-03) Independently published 201 pages April 2021 $15.00 (paperback) review by Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) St. Petersburg Bay Blues is a lively and engaging account of the author’s experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Russia, and a member of Russia 9, the last Western Russia (Moscow-based) group before the program closed. Of note is the author’s impressive recall, without notes, of people, places, and events. He tells us, “Everywhere I went I carried a composition book, which I titled St. Petersburg Bay Blues. In it I wrote songs, poems, and the odd note or observation.” Unfortunately, the notebook was stolen. “I scrambled to write what I could remember. That’s what I have here, my attempt to document an experience that seems simultaneously alien and essential to my life.” Expectations are dangerous for a book reviewer, and I was looking forward to a . . .

DARK STAR SAFARI by Paul Theroux (Malawi)

Nov 19 2023

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux Friday, November 17, 2023 — Book Review Two decades ago, the novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux took an overland trip through Africa, starting in Cairo, Egypt and ending in Cape Town, South Africa. This certainly isn’t the safest or the most comfortable means of experiencing the supposed “dark continent”, but it makes for some interesting experiences and insights. Keeping in mind that Theroux’s observations are just one point of view among many, his resulting book Dark Star provides a unique look at a region of the world that holds a permanent place off the beaten path. While Dark Star is an easy book to read, breaking it down into its individual elements is a good way to approach its merits and examine its flaws. The first element of importance is Theroux’s sense of place. Wherever he goes, . . .

Review | A JOURNEY FOR PEACE: A JOURNAL OF PEACE by Donald Yates (The Philippines)

Nov 12 2023

A Journey For Peace: A Journal of Peace Donald Yates (The Philippines 1962–64) Austin Macauley Publishers 122 pages March 2023 $10.95 (paperback) Review by Douglas Garatina (Ghana 1971-1973) • • • “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” It didn’t take long for Don Yates to answer this challenge made by President Kennedy. He made the decision to join the recently formed Peace Corps. In 1962 Don transitioned from a recent college graduate living in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to an elementary school teacher on the very remote Philippine Island of Jolo in the middle of the Sulu Sea. To make things even more interesting, the people on Jolo were Muslims even though 95% of Filipinos were Catholic, so Don’s Peace Corps training did not prepare him for the Muslim traditions and culture he was about to enter. His . . .

Review — “LOOK HERE, SIR, WHAT A CURIOUS BIRD” by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski (Malaysia)

Oct 13 2023

“Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird” by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski (Malaysia 1969-71) Explorer’s Eye Press 289 pages July 2023 $17.95 (Paperback) Reviewed by Ed Putka (Malaysia 1969-72) By the time most people graduate from college, they mostly have an idea of a career. For me, the plan was Peace Corps, a little travel, a little diary, then back home to law school and a career in the law. Others let the road shape their careers. And so it seems with Paul Sochaczewski, a prolific writer and intrepid adventurer. After finishing college in 1969, Sochaczewski joined me and 125 other volunteers in Malaysia Group XXIV. Southeast Asia was in full conflict, but our destination, Sarawak, was an exotic and relatively quiet place. Sochaczewski fell for it, becoming immediately fascinated with not only the culture, but the sounds and smells, the spirits and the shamans, the flora and fauna of . . .

Review — THE SHOWGIRL AND THE WRITER by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador)

Sep 29 2023

The Showgirl and the Writer: A Friendship Forged in the Aftermath of the Japanese American Incarceration by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) Peace Corps Writers 488 pages July 2023 $16.95 (paperback) Reviewed by Eric Madeen (Gabon 1981-83) • By turns leaky and frypan, tarpaper roofed, roughshod dormitories imprisoned 18,000 people of Japanese descent by the end at Tule Lake Japanese American High Security Segregation Camp in Northern California from 1942 to 1946. One degradation followed another, as in the incarcerated being subjected to abominable hole-in-the-wood toilets open side by side all the way down the miserable line. Barbwire topped fences. Armed guards manned watch towers looking down on imprisoned Japanese Americans guilty of no crime. At night the sweep of search lights went back and forth like metronomes. Glazing the whole sad, evil spectacle at Tule Lake concentration camp was a grainy skin of black lava dust, and slathered across . . .

Review | THE 2022 WORLD CUP IN QATAR by Steve Kaffen (Russia)

Sep 26 2023

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar by Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) April 2023 $5.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Sue Aiken (Ethiopia 1962-64) • This digital book regales us with all the beauty and memorable moments of the seventh World Cup the author attended in Qatar! Striking photography and vivid descriptions tell the reader about the great soccer being played, upsets, a remarkable final, controversies , as well as the effort of a small Middle Eastern country. Qatar is in the middle of a sprawling sand desert hosting perhaps the world’s most important sporting event! Having been a Saturday morning soccer mom for about 10 years of my life, but growing up completely unaware of the existence of soccer, this is truly an eye opening book told only as someone with extensive knowledge, excitement and experience could tell. Kaffen takes the reader along on his travel experiences ,teaching as he goes. . . .

Review — THE SHOWGIRL AND THE WRITER by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador)

Aug 20 2023

The Showgirl and the Writer: A Friendship Forged in the Aftermath of the Japanese American Incarceration by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) Peace Corps Writers 488 pages July 2023 Reviewed by John Thorndike (El Salvador 1966-68) • This powerful mix of personal and national history unfolds in three parts. First is Marnie Mueller’s own story, starting with her birth in the Tule Lake concentration camp for Japanese Americans, where her Caucasian parents were on the staff. In this relatively short section she describes her childhood, marriage, and life as a novelist. A longer second section traces her years as friend and caregiver to Mary Mon Toy, the showgirl of the title, an actress, dancer and singer of Japanese heritage who was incarcerated in 1942 in another of the “segregation camps.” Mary claims to be half Japanese and half Chinese, something Mueller believes during the years she takes care of the . . .

HEY BUDDY! — New Book by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras)

Aug 03 2023

Hey Buddy! Portraits of Friends by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975-77) Independently Published 150 pages July 2023 $18.00 (Paperback) Reviewed by Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971–73) Lihosit and I were contemporaries in the Peace Corps in Central America and both married women south of the border. Still, I didn’t connect with him until I became a writer after my international development career ended. Lihosit has written 19 books so far, and I’ve delighted in reading and reviewing several of them. I even used his book on writing and publishing a memoir to write my first book, Different Latitudes. After all he’s seen and done over the years, these memorable descriptions of his friendships seem a perfect time as he dedicates his book “For the Next Generation.” He also reflects on what makes friendships special, “Different friends have always been secret ingredients” Lihosit refers to himself as an “old Yahoo,” . . .

Review — WHITE CLOUD FREE by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay)

Jul 10 2023

White Cloud Free by Peter Michael Johnson (Paraguay 2002-04) V Press LC Publisher 160 pages July 2023 $11.99 (Kindle); $16.97 (Paperback) Reviewed by Stephen Foehr (Ethiopia 1965-66) • How many lives can a man live? An English major as a naïve Peace Corps beekeeper. A soft heart who befriends a 12-year-old village outcast. A fugitive on the run, with the boy, from a vengeful mob of farmers. An acolyte of St. Augustine. A sad-soul mate of a young Paraguayan transgender sex worker. A drug addict. A middle-aged washed-out depressive who suffers manic episodes. A seeker who wants a silent past. Author of White Cloud Free, a semi-autobiographical memoir. Memoir — a subjective collection of narratives, where the author remembers experiences, emotions, and events that are emotionally truthful, but not fact-checked — so the reader can’t tell where the author begins or ends as a character. In this, . . .

Review | THROUGH GRATEFUL EYES: The Peace Corps Experiences of Dartmouth’s Class of 1967

Jun 23 2023

Through Grateful Eyes: The Peace Corps Experiences of Dartmouth’s Class of 1967 by Charles A. (Chuck) Hobbie (Korea 1968-71) — Compiler/Editor iUniverse Publisher 273 pages July 2022 $2.99 (Kindle); $39.99 (Paperback); $31.95 (Hardback) Reviewed by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre (Peru 1964-1966) • “Talk less and listen more.” “Accept the values of the population you’re working with.” “Adapt to being comfortable being uncomfortable.” These are a few of the sage learnings found in this 2 ½ pound, 8 1/2” x 11” tome that relates the Peace Corps experiences of 19 members of the Dartmouth class of 1967 and several of their spouses. All served in the Peace Corps in the late sixties and early seventies, and their exploits are a sampling of the 30 Dartmouth ’67 graduates who went on to join the Peace Corps. Their fascinating, and often humorous, stories are punctuated with 146 photos that show the youthful volunteers . . .

Review | BIODIGITAL: A NOVEL OF TECHNOPOTHEOSIS by John Sundman (Senegal)

Jun 05 2023

Biodigital: A Novel of Technopotheosis John (F.X, Compton, Damien) Sundman (Senegal 1974-76) Rosalita Associates 2015 $5.99 (Kindle) Review by: D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador, Costa Rica) • This is a novel by a computer, biology, and sci-fi nerd for other nerds in particular, and for anyone who strives to understand the space between technology that we know exists and that which either may currently exist or likely soon will exist in some form. Most of us are likely in this latter category! Sundman states that he is especially interested in the convergence of biological and digital technologies. He has been a hardware, software and science technical writer, and a manager of information architecture in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Biodigital is a sci-fi thriller about a fictitious Silicon Valley tech genius/messiah named Monty Meekman and the quasi-religious cult of transhumanist computer designers and brain hackers who are his devoted followers. It . . .

Review | GOATS: AND OTHER STORIES by Martin Ganzglass (Somalia)

Apr 30 2023

Goats: And Other Stories Martin R. Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68) Peace Corps Writers 2021 305 pages $10.00 (paperback) Reviewed by Regina DeAngelo (Ghana 2000-2002) • At age 76, Allison Murphy has found herself widowed and living at a home for retired military personnel in a suburb near Washington. In addition to the usual nuisances of aging, Allie has recently taken a fall on a throw rug. This placed her square in the crosshairs of the administration, who are monitoring her from the newly installed security cameras, as well as through the eyes of the smiley guard at reception, in case she takes another tumble. Then there’s her nemesis, Sergeant Trottman, who’d like to see her and her attitude assigned to the Memory Ward. Amid the mini dramas of life in a retirement home, Allie’s own story unfolds. Fifty years ago, we learn, Allie was flying fighter planes: “nimble P-51s and . . .

Review | Finding Kony by Robert E. Gribbin (Kenya)

Apr 24 2023

Finding Kony by Robert E. Gribbin Self Published 248 pages November 2o22 $3.99 (Kindle); $15.99 (Paperback) Reviewed by Alan G. Johnston (Kenya 1968-70) Note: Both Robert Gribbin and Alan Johnston were in the Peace Corps group that arrived in Kenya in October 1968. They both spent many years in Africa. • On March 5, 2012 a U.S.-based NGO, Invisible Children, Inc., released a short documentary film called Kony 2012. The intent of the film, meant for world-wide distribution, was to make the infamous Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), so famous that he couldn’t hide. The goal was to have him arrested and brought to justice by the end of 2012. The film quickly went viral, garnering more than 100 million views and becoming the most “liked” video on YouTube. The film highlights the announcement by Barack Obama in October 2011 that the U.S. . . .