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Want to order one of the books mentioned in Literary Type? Just click on the cover. |
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His publisher writes: Always ready for a trip to the farm, John Pukite (Central African Republic 1988–90) author of A Field Guide to Cows, strapped on his overalls again and has produced a one-of-a-kind field guide to the true entertainer of the farmyard: the pig. Although swine have roamed fields and forests for centuries, this guide is the first to offer easy-to-understand descriptions and illustrations of more than 30 breeds. The field guide also includes a time line of pig history, a list of famous and remarkable pigs, pig quotes, and much, more. If you are hog-wild about pigs, this book — A Field Guide to Pigs — needs to be on your bookshelf today. Or just say OINK! |
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Everyone who has ever participated in a reading group knows that books open minds. Now in its fifth edition, the web site Reading Group Choices suggests selections of fiction and non-fiction from major publishers as well as independent presses. In the current edition are two books by RPCVs: The Climate of the Country by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963–65) and Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa by Linda Donelson (Cameroon 1965–66, Ghana 1966–67). If your reading group is looking for some fresh topics or you simply need more ideas on what to read, visit Reading Group Choices. |
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Paul Karrer (Western Samoa 1978–80) has had four stories published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series and now has just recorded two stories for radio station KUSP (Santa Cruz, California). The program will air on January 21, 2000. |
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World Library Partnership has just published a wonderful simulation game by RPCV Gail Wadsworth (Uganda 1970–72; Kenya 1973–76; UNV/PCV Tanzania 1980–82; and PC/W 1989–97) and Wendy White called “Pamoja: A Learning Activity for the Information Age.” An earlier version of the game was used at the Beijing Women’s Conference NGO Forum on Women. Pamoja means “together” in Swahili and the game is used to facilitate communication. Depending on their interests, participants use “Pamoja” to explore issues and skills such as team building, policy development, negotiation, cultural sensitivity and the value of information. For more information contact Laura Wendell at 919.479.0163 or visit the website of World Library Partnership. |
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Fishtrap, a writers’ retreat in Enterprise, Oregon, founded by Rich Wandschneider (Turkey 1965–67) has tapped Mike Tidwell (Zaire 1985–87) for the “Winter Fishtrap” writing workshop February 25–27, 2000.
Fishtrap. started as a writers conference, is now a non-profit literary organization that sponsors two major annual writers conferences; a week of writing workshops in the summer and occasional workshops throughout the year; a Fellowship Program for emerging writers; a nine-week writer-in-residence in local schools; and a “Writers’ Retreat,” which has hosted over 20 writers for periods of 2–4 weeks of quiet writing time in the past two years.
The title of this winter’s writing workshop is “Living and Writing on the Edge.” Mike, and two other writers (Jon Turk and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough) will work with 50 writers, wannabe writers, teachers, librarians, travelers, mountain climbers, doctors, lawyers, tinkerers and storytellers, and talk about what they do and write. The location is Eagle Cap Chalets at Wallowa Lake, Oregon. Nice motel rooms, a good meeting room, a hot tub and pool. For more information call 541.426.3623 or e-mail Rich at rich@fishtrap.org. |
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And speaking of Mike Tidwell, travel writer extraordinaire, has just sold another travel book for an advance in the high five figures. His book will chronicle his journey hitchhiking on Cajun fishing boats through the bayou country of southern Louisiana. It will be a bittersweet account of a beautiful natural world and a compelling human culture, both of which are vanishing rapidly as we enter the 21st century. The book will be published by Pantheon in hardback and Vintage in trade paper. The publication date is spring of 2002. |
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Why this “deer caught in the headlights” look? |
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Rick Gray (Kenya 1988–90) says he was inspired by Mutual of Omaha’s television show featuring Marlin Perkins entitled “Wild Kingdom” when after graduating from New York University with a degree in English and Journalism, he joined the Peace Corps and went to Africa. He says he joined “in a desperate attempt to improve his acting,” and once overseas he claims he became crippled by his lust for his students, and his alienation from his white suburban identity. Escaping into the African wilds, he hooks up with a tribe of nomadic warriors, trading Stanislavski for the Samburu, and ends up being arrested. All of these mis-adventures he has turned into a one-person show, “Impossible Safari,” that he not only wrote, but performs. The play opened on January 14th and goes through February 5 (Fridays & Saturdays at 10:30 p.m., $12) at the Here Theatre, 145 6th Avenue in New York City. |
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Cristina Kessler (Honduras 1973–75, Kenya 1975–76, Seychelles 1976–78), author of the recently published YA (young adult) novel, No Condition Is Permanent, which is set in Africa and focuses on female circumcision, has used her Peace Corps experience in all the books that she has written. Her children's book, One Night: A Story from the Desert, is set in Niger. All the King’s Animals tells of a little-known African conservation success story, and folk-tale Konte Chameleon, Fine, Fine, Fine! retells the West Africa tale about why the chameleon never hurries. Coming in September from Orchard Books is My Great-grandmother’s Gourd. Set in the Sudan, this book is about storing water in baobab trees. In December, Simon & Schuster will publish Jubela, a YA novel based on a true story from Swaziland about rhino poaching. |
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The subject of three recent books is the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old girl, bludgeoned to death with a 6-iron golf club on the lawn of her family home in Greenwich, Connecticut. This January 19th the police in Greenwich charged Michael Skakel, her former teenage friend and neighbor in Belle Haven, a gated section of the affluent Greenwich, and a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, in the slaying. The arrest was a major break in a murder case that has long confounded the police. Novelist Dominick Dunne wrote the 1993 best-selling roman à clef, A Season in Purgatory, which chronicled the investigation into a young woman's murder and the involvement of a troubled, wealthy Irish Catholic family. In 1998, Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles police detective, named Skakel as the likely killer in his book Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley? Tim Dumas, who attended Greenwich High School with Ms. Moxley, also wrote a book in 1998 on the case entitled, Greentown: Murder and Mystery in Greenwich, America's Wealthiest Community. The RPCV connection in all three books is Newsday columnist Leonard Levitt (Tanzania 1963–65). Dunne, Fuhrman, and Dumas all consulted with Levitt, who had been following the case since the early 1980’s, and written dozen of articles about the murder. |
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Novelist and prolific short story writer Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978–80) has seven stories appearing in literary magazines this winter and spring. They are: “Mysterious Way,” in North Dakota Quarterly, “Absence of Magic,” in Pig Iron, “The Acrobat's Wife,” in The American Literary Review, “The Nature of Fiction,” in translation, in Barcelona (Spain), “Cholera,” in Crab Orchard Review, “Spanish Summer,” in North Dakota Quarterly and “In Vienna, In Glass” in The Southern Review.
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Kim McMahill (Solomon Islands) has published On The Brink of Paradise at Buy Books on the web.com. Her book details her experiences in the Solomon Islands. The book focuses on the island, its geography, history, culture, and people. An excerpt of On the Brink of Paradise can be read at the publishers site.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Peace Corps book to appear on Buy Books on the web.com where an author can submit a ready-to-print book on disk, and, for setup and monthly maintenance fees, the book is prepared by an in-house production facility and is printed on demand (of online orders) and ready to be shipped in 24 – 48 hours. |
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