Book Description
Global Studies is a unique series designed to provide comprehensive background information and selected world press articles on the regions and countries of the world. Each Global Studies volume includes an annotated listing of World Wide Web sites. Global Studies titles are supported with study tools and links to related websites at our student website www.dushkin.com/online/.
Book Description
“A haunting account of one man’s determination and the struggles of a people living in a deeply troubled country.”—Booklist
When William Powers went to Liberia as a fresh-faced aid worker in 1999, he was given the mandate to “fight poverty and save the rainforest.” It wasn’t long before Powers saw how many obstacles lay in the way, discovering first-hand how Liberia has become a “black hole in the international system”—poor, environmentally looted, scarred by violence, and barely governed. Blue Clay People is an absorbing blend of humor, compassion, and rigorous moral questioning, arguing convincingly that the fate of endangered places such as Liberia must matter to all of us.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting look into the complicated problems of poverty, corruption, and sustainability in the Third (and Fourth) World........2007-04-24
William Powers writes a compelling story of idealism and reality in the war-torn country of Liberia, where he lived for two years while working for Catholic Relief Services.
What intrigued me the most? How he avoided placing all blame in one corner, but rather shared it amongst all the participants. Relief agencies create too much dependence through simple distributions. Governments fuel violence and bathe themselves in corruption. Americans and others in First World nations demand goods at rates and levels that siphon necessary resources from countries that need them for development. The poor lie, cheat, and steal in order to keep their families fed (thus focusing on the short-term and ignoring the long-term.) All in all, a thought-provking, well written story with an important moral!
Seeking "enough" for all of us.......2006-11-14
In this powerful and compelling account, William Powers helps us all strive toward having "enough". The Liberians have too little. They lack food, water, shelter, and security. But too many westerners have too much. The excessive natural resources consumed by each westerner are obtained at immense cost to the environment and the people of third and fourth world countries. The mahogany of old growth trees clear cut from the Liberian rain forest is sold to Westerners to enrich Charles Taylor and finance war on his own people. Engagement rings made with "conflict diamonds" pay to oppress many poor Africans. But intervention is difficult as William Powers found out as he worked in Liberia to "reduce poverty and dependency while preserving the rain forest". Western ways do not solve fourth world problems; instead they usually add to the problems. Simple, elegant, sustainable solutions, integrated into each unique physical and cultural environment can make a difference. This book is a fascinating invitation to listen to nature, rather than dominate it.
Depressingly predictable, or predictably depressing, if you work in the international development field.......2006-11-05
Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa's Fragile Edge by William Powers is one of those international environment and development books that makes you wince even if you're not surprised by what you see. Powers (who's doing some work with my wife in the Andes now, which is why I read his book) headed off to Liberia just out of his master's degree to work for Catholic Relief Services, with the grand goals of improving Liberia's health, education, and economic development prospects while stopping deforestation of the country's rainforest. Nice ideas. He arrived at what he thought was the end of a civil war. Instead, he arrived at a temporary halt in the fighting that would shortly end. In the meantime he found an expatriate NGO community living a high life of SUVs, parties with embassy staff, and jazz and beer in the capital city, while in the hinterlands, aid was wasted, corruption was rampant, and the natives were reliant on international handouts rather than developing their own infrastructure. He went in as an idealist, writing eagerly back to his fiancee in the States and espousing a sort of post-sectarian missionary zeal to help the noble Liberian people. He ends up rather soured on the whole experience, even when he does get out into the country, find more responsible economic development models (i.e. building capacity in sustainable agriculture) and finding a Liberian girlfriend when his engagement falls apart. Moral of the story: International development is a dicey business, and living in a developing country is good for introspection and personal growth, but risky for your love life.
Honest and forces you to rethink things..........2006-10-12
This book is a must read for anyone who professes to want to effect a change in the world, specifically when it comes to helping people less fortunate than ourselves, home or abroad.
There are conflicting issues of sustainabilty versus compassion, saving economies versus environmental holocaust and culture imperialism versus saving lives that don't often get brought up. How do we deal with these seemingly impossible concessions? Read it, then make up your own mind.
Powers is also a very stirring writer of narrative, and aside from the larger issues, it's a personal journey that I found so easy to internalize and feel as if I were involved personally.
Worth a read .......2006-07-24
This is non-hero real look into the day to day opperations of foriegn aid work. It presents clear looking to issuse of poverty and enviroment and the history of a unstable area. Worth the time if you are interesting in topic or think of traveling to do aid work.
Book Description
Now Available in Paperback!No one engages the natural world the way Jeff Corwin does. One of America's favorite nature-show hosts, Corwin demonstrates awe and respect for nature in a way that is both wildly funny and educational. In this beautiful book, illustrated with his own photographs, he reminisces about his at-times-perilous and often hilarious journeys as he explores the fantastic relationships among the diverse flora and fauna in four exotic ecosystems: the Sonoran Desert of Arizona; the Savannah of southeastern Africa; the Costa Rican rainforest; and the Llanos grassland in Venezuela. From a lizard that ejects a blood-like squirt from its eyes when in danger to perhaps the most bizarre turtle on the planet-we meet some wonderfully unique creatures and learn about their interdependence and competition in their natural habitats.
Customer Reviews:
On the wild side..........2007-07-09
Join Jeff Corwin as he shows us the dry, hot desert of Arizona, the life and death struggle in southeastern Africa, the rain forests of Costa Rica, and the grasslands of the Venezuela. Along the way we learn about life, death, love, and the web of nature. He also pops in facts and short stories, many of which are as funny as you can get without a Nun's outfit, a donkey and a jar of peanut butter.
The book itself is a lovely hardcover, with full color photos and something I would be proud to have on my coffee table if I had a coffee table. And it is so enjoyable to read you could easily finish it in a day if you wanted to.
The Best Nature Book Out There.......2005-10-28
Jeff Corwin is not only a great tv personality but is also a very good author. I have read his book like three times already and each time I read it I like it even more.The pictures, all of which he took himself, are great and I like how he goes into his life experiences with animals. Also, I like how he sprinkles humor throughout the book. I have learned so much from Jeff Corwin and he is the reason I am majoring in Environmental Science. He has made me realize how important it is to protect the environment and all of the animals in it.
Poetic imagery for the Natural world.......2005-10-17
This book is great! Altho I am a big fan of Jeff's and the Jeff Corwin Experience, I am still blown away by this book. Jeff describes everything vividly, yet in a beautifully poetic way (i've never heard of so many diff ways to describe the sunset). I was really surprised b/c he isn't like that on the show. I loved that many lesser-known animals are introduced, as well as the more common ones. Also, I loved that Jeff gave us the pecularities/specialties of each animal so I'm not just reading the same old boring stuff that I've read in too many nature books or seen on tv. I've learned a lot of things that I never knew about (ie: the symbiosis btwn strangler fig & wasp) and Jeff describes them all so vividly that it was even better than watching the show. The only complaint I have is that there's not enough pictures. But as I read along, I realized that Jeff already painted the whole scene for me that photos would just be icing on the cake. I totally and whole-heartedly recommend this book to any nature lover!
Web of Life.......2005-09-21
Gives good complex look at the animals in different environments and shows the environmental issues challenging each place. Filled with stories from Jeff Corwin's life and his own encounters with both exotic and extraordinary animals.
Take a Walk on the Wild Side .......2004-12-06
This is a very entertaining and educational book. I'm a fan of The Jeff Corwin Experience, and this book did not disappoint me. It is very well organized and well written, and I was amazed at the way it managed to drop me right down into the middle of the Costa Rican rainforest or the African savannah. What I particularly liked was the variety of bizarre and fascinating details that Jeff adds. I found myself sharing these bizarre facts (like giant anaconda orgies that can last for weeks and weeks...woohoo!)with all sorts of people who, no doubt, thought I was some sort of animal expert now. But best of all is Jeff's obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter, particularly the topic of conservation. It's hard not to enjoy his stories when he presents them with such passion and humor. I definitely recommend this book to Jeff Corwin fans and any readers who want to take a walk on the wild side.
Book Description
GLOBAL STUDIES is a unique series designed to provide comprehensive background information and selected world press articles on the regions and countries of the world. Each GLOBAL STUDIES volume includes an annotated listing of World Wide Web sites. GLOBAL STUDIES titles are supported with study tools and links to related websites at our student website www.mhcls.com/online/.
Customer Reviews:
three well- written and topically interesting short novels.......2002-04-15
I am very glad I found this paperback at the library and took a chance on it. The first novel, Fong and the Indians, concerns a hapless petty merchant in East Africa. It is delighfully politically incorrect while maintaining a sympathetic opinion of the underlying humanity of all the characters. The third, Jungle Lovers, could have been written by a heavy drinker attracted to African women, because, well, the protagonist has these characteristics. It is also well-paced and mixes politics, plot, and character quite well. I am currently reading the "second" placed novel and it is also delightfully juicy and descriptive. Overall, these books made me want to read more novels set in Africa, by Africans as well as visitors.
An enjoyable compiliation.......2000-10-06
This is actually a compilation of three previously-published novels, set in sub-Saharan Africa. To the best of my knowledge, all three are out of print, so the publisher has done the reader a service by re-printing all three in this volume.
Each of the novels in this volume has certain merits, and all three are worth your time. As a whole, they serve to encapsulate the experience of being a foreigner in Africa, in the 1970s. By foreigner I don't just mean Caucasian; the stories are told from diverse points of view. My personal favorite is the one about a group of women running a boarding school in upcountry Uganda, but anyone who either likes the writings of Paul Theroux or has an interest in Africa, would find that all three stories are worth his while.
Average customer rating:
- vanishing moments
- Beautiful of its kind
- Edge of Africa
- Africa in my Hands!
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The Edge of Africa
Carlton Ward Jr. ,
Michelle Lee ,
Francisco Dallmeier , and
Alfonso Alonso
Manufacturer: Hylas Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Nature & Wildlife
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Africa
| Travel
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| How-to
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1592580408 |
Book Description
There is a magical place at the edge of Africa where rainforest meets ocean, where elephants and buffalos walk white sand beaches, and hippos, crocs, and sea turtles share the surf. The forest rises a hundred feet tall, full of life and a layered complexity stretching far beyond the horizon. Forests, grasslands, rivers, and lagoons form a unique landscape mosaic. There is no place like it on Earth.
Gabon has a story to tell. Its landscapes inspire explorers and scientists with a forest-to-ocean fabric rich in biological diversity. Expeditions are unlocking a treasure chest of knowledge on biology and ecology - the science behind conservation. Unprecedented biodiversity studies are discovering a wealth of species, including several new to science.
The Edge of Africa brings light to the unseen wonders of Gabon - from its smallest creatures to its broadest landscapes to the people who call it home. Photographs by Carlton Ward Jr. and text by Michelle Lee capture its stunning essence.
The world is grateful to Gabon for conserving its precious wilderness heritage. May Gabon's inspiring story speak to you.
Customer Reviews:
vanishing moments.......2006-04-29
I never fail to pick-up the book from my coffee table and find something I might has missed previously.
Imagine, there was something I overlooked.
DJR
Beautiful of its kind.......2004-09-04
Beautiful and compelling. A fascinating book, and one of the best of its kind ever made.
Edge of Africa.......2004-03-22
Just got to say that I live out in Gamba, Gabon as my family work for Shell Gabon and in all the time I have been there, I never imagined that beauty out there exists as deeply as portrayed in this book. You look at the beaches and you think wow but to then see it as detailed as it is in the Edge of Africa, it brings real light to your eyes. Get it.
Africa in my Hands!.......2004-01-06
I just put the book down and all I can say is "Wow". I am amazed at the spectacular photographs and vivid descriptions of the book. It made me feel like I was in Africa. The photographer depicts the various animal, plant, and geography so unique to the area, while the author describes the details and makes you feel like you are right there. This gives me a different perspective to other images and documentation I have seen regarding this region of Africa. Recommended!
Average customer rating:
- Schweitzer's Autobiographical Account of His Beginnings in West Africa
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On the Edge of the Primeval Forest - Experiences and Observations of a Doctor in Equatorial Africa
Albert, Schweitzer
Manufacturer: Home Farm Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Africa
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Africa
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
| Beaches
| Business Travel
| Cruises
| Essays & Travelogues
| Food & Lodging
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General
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Schweitzer, Albert
| ( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Religion & Spirituality
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Travel
| Biographies & Memoirs
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ASIN: 1406796255 |
Book Description
Originally published in 1922. The author's experiences as a doctor/explorer in the untamed forests of Equatorial Africa. Illustrated with photos and maps. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
Customer Reviews:
Schweitzer's Autobiographical Account of His Beginnings in West Africa.......2007-03-04
Although a great admirer of Dr. Albert Schweitzer for some years, it is only now that the opportunity has presented itself to finally read and relish the doctor's own account of his beginnings and reasons for working in equatorial Africa.
Schweitzer's reason(s) for giving up his position as professor in the University of Strasbourg, his prolific literary work, his ground-breaking work on Bach, (he was the world authority at the time) and his music... the doctor writes,
"I had read about the physical miseries of the natives in the virgin forests; I had heard about them from missionaries, and the more I thought about it the stranger it seemed to me that we Europeans trouble ourselves so little about the great humanitarian task which offers itself to us in far-off lands." (P. 9)
Dr. Schweitzer has a lot to say concerning the extensive damages wrought on the native African as a result of colonialism. We take their natural resources as if they were our own; we have given them our diseases; we have given them alcoholism and we push the Word of the Lord down their throats and some how justify this pillage & plunder as "civilizing the savages". Schweitzer, first and foremost, realized that the colonized natives are experiencing great suffering in terms of the many diseases that plague the continent, and felt that he, a white man, needed to take responsibility; therefore he chose to become a medical doctor at the age of thirty. Once attaining his qualifications, he set out with his wife to West Africa amongst the many protests from his contemporaries.
This book was first published in 1922, but Schweitzer set sail for Africa in July 1913, to go on and establish his famous hospital in Lambarene, West Africa. The hardships in establishing a hospital in such primitive conditions to then begin treating the natives straight away with little or adequate medical supplies is almost unthinkable, but he forged on, building the hospital, treating horrific disease and dealing with the culture of the West African. He writes about the belief system of the native's (fetishist) and the affect of their conversion to Christianity.
There is a chapter the doctor devotes entirely to the most prevalent tropical diseases he comes across most weeks and months. These descriptions are graphic, truly conveying the horror and utter suffering the patient experiences if left untreated.
In Dr. Schweitzer's conclusion, he writes about something he calls "The Fellowship of those who bear the Mark of Pain." In distilled terms, anyone who has experienced great pain and has been treated to a successful outcome should realize the extent of pain and suffering of the native African. This empathy should awake the white man, and force them to help with the aid of modern medicine, the pain and suffering of the native African.
Any medical student or doctor thinking about working in primitive conditions in any developing country, should certainly read this book. I believe it is inspiring in every sense of the word.
Average customer rating:
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The Trouble With Evil: Social Control at the Edge of Morality (S U N Y Series in Deviance and Social Control)
Edwin McCarthy Lemert
Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Ethics & Morality
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
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General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
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Good & Evil
| Philosophy
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General
| Social Sciences
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Social Theory
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
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Wicca
| Earth-Based Religions
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Witchcraft
| Earth-Based Religions
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0791432440 |
Book Description
A broadly based analysis of good and evil grounded in examination of the conceptual, philosophical, and theoretical bases of the study of evil within the social sciences.
Book Description
Being a missionary in Ivory Coast, West Africa is not only about dangers, hard work, and culture shock, interspersed with moments of high joy and deep sorrow. It is life found in the small and daily things, the quotidian experience which renders familiar a vastly different way of life, a life at the edge of the village.
At the Edge of the Village collects Lisa Leidenfrost's sketches of missionary life, compiled from letters sent home from Ivory Coast to her church in the United States, and they tell of the ordinary and extraordinary, the solemn and the playful, the mundane and the exotic, together creating a down-to-earth portrait of the gospel at work in a family and society.
Customer Reviews:
My kids howled...then they prayed.......2007-02-22
Lisa Leidenfrost brought the joys and trials of missionary life into my living room as I read this book aloud to my wife and children. It's got all the great stories told without a hint of self-pity...no matter how many ants are present...that endeared the Leidenfrosts to my family such that my children are motivated to pray for them all the time.
These people are first rate!
Book Description
Riding on the heels of the hilarious send-ups Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry and Phaic Tăn: Sunstroke on a Shoestring, comes San Sombrero. The people of San Sombrero are an outgoing, talkative, and sociable bunch, which perhaps explains why so few have succeeded as spies. Laughing comes naturally to them, and it's not unusual to see large groups of people doubled over with laughter, even in court or during a funeral. Often described as "the Venice of Central America" (due to the fact that many of its coastal cities are sinking), the sun-baked island of San Sombrero offers something for everyone, be they music lover, eco-tourist, history buff, or UN Human Rights Commissioner. From the frenetic nightlife of its capital Cucaracha City to the guaranteed solitude of a west coast beach during sea-snake season, there's simply so much to see and do in this undiscovered tropical jewel.
Customer Reviews:
Another great book in the series.......2007-08-28
While not quite as good as the first book on Molvania, San Sombrero is still a fun book and well worth the time to read it. It makes you even want to read the restaurant and hotel information for the twist they manage to work into them. Vive San Sombrero! Vive (insert name here), el Presidente!
Viva San Sombrero.......2007-08-26
Very funny, as are the orher two titles in this series. Amazon should offer a package collecting all three- "Molvania", Phaic Tan" and "San Sombrero". There are several other titles mentioned in these books as future publications in the Jetlag Travel Series. I'll buy them when available. I'm particularly looking forward to "Travel for Seniors" with information on the twenty best places in the world to lodge a complaint.Iwant to know if Rick Steves' many books on European travel inspired the authors of the Jetlag Series to parody them. Please comment, Santo Cilauro.
be warned.......2007-02-27
Look, we don't know each other. I may be an inveterate exaggerator, right? I might give all fives on my Amazon reviews. I might detest conflict and only say nice things about books.
You don't know, do you?
So let me assure you that none of those things is true, because I'm going to make a statement that might seem ludicrous: SAN SOMBRERO is one of the funniest things I've ever read. My wife thinks so, too, and we don't agree on very much. Even my Rhodesian Ridgeback seems particularly jaunty when I'm reading SAN SOMBRERO.
An Aussie friend introduced me to the Jet Lag travel guide spoofs. SAN SOMBRERO is actually the third in a series but the first I've read. It doesn't matter where you begin, but - if you have ever read a serious travel guide of any kind (say, Frommers, Rough Guide, etc.) - then you'll *love* what these lunatics do with the genre.
SAN SOMBRERO is roughly based on Costa Rica, Cuba, and any number of other Latin American 'travel paradise' locations. Each time you think the authors have exhausted their uproarious takes on one of the conventional aspects of the genre, you turn a page and they hit you again.
It's inexhaustibly entertaining, right up to the 'insert' at the back of the book.
I can't wait to read PHAIC TAN and MOLVANIA.
Aussies, all is forgiven, even your abysmal cricket side and the freakin' long airplane rides it takes to get where you are. You can come home now and rejoin the family of nations.
Just as funny as the first two........2007-01-04
I own the first two in this series (Molvania, A Land Untouched By Modern Dentistry, and Phaic Than, Sunstroke on a Shoestring). I bought this hoping it was half as funny, because they were hilarious. Imagine my pleasure to find that the third installment was new, fresh, and still very funny. I love to read these while I am travelling.
brilliant parody of Latin America travel guides.......2006-12-29
I don't go out of my way looking for comedy, but I found this in my parents' collection during a visit back home. Probably the more familiar you are with Latin America travel guides, the more you'll appreciate this book, which exaggerates the dangers of travel (disease, political unrest, insects, street food), and desperate living conditions, etc. as much as the guide books tend to downplay these conditions. This book is funny to me because rather than being absurd, it is loosely based on the (sometimes frightening) truth. The book is well-designed and illustrated- if you just looked at the pictures, you wouldn't know it wasn't a real guide book. Following are some excerpts (which are by no means highlights, as the humor is relentless):
"Be very suspicious about taking a ride in a cab where a 'friend' is accompanying the driver. San Sombreran taxi drivers don't have friends."
"San Sombrerans are passionate movie-goers, possibly because cinemas are the only air-condition buildings in town."
"Political instability has seen 17 different presidents take power in the past decade, the shortest reign being that of Alivio Escrevez who was assassinated halfways through his own inauguration speech."
Customer Reviews:
Best of Eastern Europe.......2007-09-03
A must for all who have experienced in Eastern Europe in the nineties. A sort of mix of experiences from CZ, Poland and the likes. You wonder wether the authors were not sitting at the next door table at Radost.
Fake Travel Guides for Laughs.......2007-05-06
A friend showed me one of the books in this series (Phaic-Tan) and it was such a riot that I ordered it as well as others in the series the same day. This is a strange planet, where some countries can send people to the moon and back, and other peoples are still living in the Stone Age, with a whole lot of humanity somewhere in between. That makes for a lot of potential sarcastic humor, which is what we see in these guidebooks to countries that do not actually exist. Humanity, laugh at yourself! If you have ever travelled in the Second or Third World much, a lot of these creative sketches will make it possible to grin over what may have been a painful or frustrating experience at the time. The books are fun... although I sometimes wondered if they were not perhaps made up by escaped creative writers from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Mixture of funny, mediocre and inappropriate jokes.......2007-05-05
Molvania is a mock travel guide for a fictitious Eastern European country. The book is ripe with stereotypes about Eastern Europe. I am an Eastern European and this book made me laugh at first. The jokes about the "brusqueness" of the Eastern European waiters, the propensity to overcharge Western European tourists and the abrupt phone manners of the local population are quite good.
The authors, of course, don't stop at that. On page 24, they make fun of the Eastern Orthodox religion. Conveniently called "Baltic Orthodox", the Eastern Orthodoxy is described as "a local form of worship very similar to Catholicism, except that Catholics long ago dismissed the concept of the world being flat"?! I find this offensive. Then, on page 26, they go on to say that the language contains several phonetic sounds which could "represent either a rare dialect or merely peasants clearing their throats"?! Again, that's just inappropriate regardless which language the authors have in mind.
I am giving Molvania two stars to acknowledge that some of my Eastern European friends love this book. I, on the other hand, will return it to NYPL and will be quite contented if I never see it again.
Parody of Fodor's Travel Guides.......2006-11-16
"Molvania" is reported by some to be the inspiration for the movie "Borat" - plausible, because there are similarities. Nonetheless, it is clear that "Molvania" itself was inspired as a parody of Fodor's Travel Guides. Included are the usual sections on History, Geography, Religion, How to Get Around, Where to Stay, etc. Every section is replete with jokes, and overall almost makes one want to go to Movania. Unfortunately, Molvania doesn't exist, at least according to my globe and the Internet. (On the other hand, where is the Internet?)
Almost Complete, a Slight Oversight However.......2006-08-31
As a Molvanian native, I thought at first that this is yet another one of those soulless Western monographs, good only to patronize and condescend to the locals.
Imagine my surprise then when, on close scrutiny, I found how the team at JETLAG has managed to compile an accurate and actually useful guide, an opus that will serve well all travelers, past and future, to Molvania and beyond. I find that the maps especially are a treat in their accuracy and detail, especially considering that you cannot buy maps in Molvania proper. Details of cuisine and local customs are also accurately captured, and their flavor stays with you even longer than the hangover.
There is one omission in this travel guide, however, one that I hope will be addressed in future editions: a section addressing the needs of business travelers is sorely lacking, and visiting business persons will find that they need all the help they can get while transacting their affairs with Molvanian tycoons.
Otherwise, a well deserved five stars.
PS - To all Molvanians and neighboring natives who have spoken negatively on this one: please lighten up, this is a fine read (two minutes at a time), one of the best jokes related to that part of the world, enjoy it!
Book Description
From the authors of best-selling Molvania comes another hilarious send-up of the always-culturally sensitive travel guide. Whether you'd prefer to taste the Phaic Tanese dish guoman (a local duck delicacy whereby the bird is plucked, rolled in spices, and slowly roasted over hot coals before being brought to the table and killed), or go brown-water rafting on the mudslides of the heavily deforested jungles of the north, or gain insight into the unusual customs of the Phaic Tanese people (Phaic Tanese men will often touch a blonde-headed child because so doing is believed to bring gold, and will likewise touch the breasts of a blonde-headed woman because so doing is believed to bring pleasure), Jetlag's travel guide is the essential guide for the undiscerning traveler. A fascinating land of contrasts with one foot in the past and another striding determinedly forward, Phaic Tan truly is a nation going in circles.
Customer Reviews:
Another great travel guide!.......2007-04-07
I didn't like this one quite as much as Molvania, but it's still good humor. It may just be that some of the quirks discussed in this book are not as familiar to me as the post-Communist land of Molvania...
Fitfully Funny Follow-up to "Molvanîa" Focuses on Southeast Asian Tourism.......2006-09-14
The top five exports from this Southeast Asian nation are MSG, beaded car seat covers, spring roll wrappers, crab sticks and dengue fever. The region has two seasons - a wet one and a rainy one. The native populace considers it unlucky for pregnant women to go into labor in certain months, so they often attempt to delay delivery for up to four weeks. Welcome to Phaic Tân (pronounced "fake tan"), a small country that may remind you of all the worst stereotypes associated with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, all rolled into one.
For those like me who enjoyed the first Jetlag travel guide, "Molvanîa", published two years ago, you will get more of the same sardonic humor in the pages of this faux-guidebook. By this time, the novelty is a bit worn, and the droll, patronizing tone that the editors captured so well in the first book seems to be not as present here. The smug attitude is what makes the first "Lonely Planet" send-up so comically rich, even more than the ridiculous locations and customs described. The absurd, straight-faced observations in this book appear to be of a more generic funny variety, for example, at the luxurious Keow Bhan Hotel in Pattaponga, the editors write, "On Saturday and Sunday nights a local Dixieland jazz band plays so if you enjoy good music, consider booking a table mid-week." In fact, much of the humorous jabs here could be directed at any third world country.
The photos, which look like they are authentically taken in that part of the world, are also not as amusing as one would hope even with the joke-oriented captions. Still, there are some gems such as the section on Phaic Tânese cinema where movie posters for the country's leading movie star, kick boxing champion Trong Tchen, are presented - titles like "Instep of Fear", "Death Wish for Two", "I Greet You with Lead" and "Hamlet". Or the putting range shown in the illustration of the Royal Palace compound. Or the comic painting of the ruling royal couple. It may be that tourism in Southeast Asia is not as ripe for satire as Eastern Europe or simply that the editors have lost some of their original creative energy. Regardless, it's amusing enough for those inclined toward a mock-travel guide that mines Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and any number of travel publishers for laughs.
An unfortunate sequel to a hilarous book.......2006-05-06
Having spent a lot of time travelling in Eastern Europe, South East Asia, and several newly liberalized, ex-communist countries, I greatly enjoyed "Molvania" and was looking forward to something similar with Phaic Tan. Molvania was hilarous because, though greatly exaggerated, everything (almost everything) had a grain of truth. Unfortunately the same can not be said of Phaic Tan. Whereas Molvania was witty and clever, Phaic Tan is, with few exceptions, just silly. Most of the entries are absurdities that could be made up about any place in the world. Most people who have been to the parts of the world referred to -- Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos -- will have true stories to report that are far more funny than the entries in this book.
An armchair traveller's delight.......2006-04-05
Fans of the previous fake country guide 'Molvania' (ISBN 1585676195) will enjoy this new 'phaic' guide to a sun-drenched nation nestling somewhere in Asia. This knockout new edition is produced by the same Australian folk who discovered Molvania. I loved the first book mainly because it looked so convincing but wait till you see 'Phaic Tan', this is satire of the first order.
For a start it is printed on glossy paper and in color throughout with excellent photo selection, maps and graphics, the design is first class, too. The first chapter, Getting Started, in eighty-eight pages gives you a complete run-down on Phaic Tan including a page schedule of what you'll see on PT/TV, one of the country's three TV stations, a spread of food photos 'A Taste of Phaic Tan', has a reference to snake wine which is often served with its own tourniquet. The countries four main regions get a chapter each and there is an index in the back.
Like real guide books I don't think it's necessary to read this one cover to cover but rather to dip into the pages now and again, after all not much is going to happen in Phaic Tan over the next few years so this guide book will always be up to date.
Oh yes, do try and avoid the south of Pattaponga, the city map on page 154 clearly shows a gas refinery next to the Syon Yup fireworks factory and remember there is only one hospital, world-class apparently!
Not as good as Molvania, but still very funny.......2006-03-31
"For too long now Phaic Tan has been closed off from the outside world, a country visited each year by just a handful of hardy travelers, aid agency workers and hostage negotiators. But now, thanks to this fully up-dated Jetlag guide, everything you need to know about planning a trip to Phaic Tan, birthplace of the trouser press and irritable bowel syndrome, is here."
This is the introduction to a country formed by mixing equal parts of Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, stirring for a few minutes and served over ice.
I was excited to see and read the sequel to Molvania. Molvania I read overnight; I could not put down the book. It was almost impossible to take a break from the poignant descriptions of Eastern Europe. Having finished the book, I chuckled for days just by thinking about it. And for Christmas, I gave all my friends a copy. As all sequels, this book falls short from the first version. If Molvania is "Police Academy I" then Phaic Tan is "Police Academy II". (OK, I just carbon-dated myself.) I read it over a few days, this was a book I could easily put down. Certainly, the jokes are there, the non sequiturs are abound, but few are as entertaining, poignant, bizarre, and funny as in Molvania. While Molvania came through as a much more homogeneous Eastern European backwater with all its pollution, rudeness and post-socialist agony, Phaic Tan is more a mosaic of the beaches of Vietnam, trekking in Thailand, discovering remote islands in Indonesia, getting lost in China, shopping in India, and being ripped off a few times anywhere in the world. This does not mean that the book is not funny or entertaining or that it is not worth reading; simply Phaic Tan is not as hilarious as Molvania.
Phaic Tan continues making fun of travel books of the Lonely Planet ilk, the obsessive middle-aged backpackers, and the all-too-snobbish middle school teachers. It is a good read; no doubt, you will enjoy it.
Customer Reviews:
Jetlagged.......2006-12-08
Etgar Keret, you're the most promising fortyish writer in Israel and you just love working in comics too. Your skills at farce and a Charles Schultz wistful sadsackness give your stories a lovesick, hovering, numinous quality like dark clouds over a child's tea party. In JETLAG FIVE GRAPHIC NOVELLAS you really take the word "novellas" and give it a new meaning, that is, you make it mean something brief and haiku like, when in ordinary English I expect it to mean something long. Comics have their own Orwellian newspeak but to dignify these sketches with the name of novellas would have Henry James, not to mention Isaac Balshevis Singer, rolling in their graves.
Etgar Keret, youe collaborators on JETLAG all belong to a collective called ACTUS, but their drawing styles could not be any different. Rutu Modan, who illustrates the final "novella," has a classic European clarity and the last panel, of your hero alone with his pet monkey on a seaside amusement pier, is like a panel from some lost Tintin adventure by Herge. Itzik Rennert, on the other hand, dazzles things up with a George Grosz meets Basquiat (or John Bankston) satiric crudeness of gesture and line: big thick sharpie strokes and a pornographic river of debauchery. As an Anerican boy growing up in France I used to try to imitate the line drawings in the books of erotica I found on the top shelves of my elderly professor's directoire, and if I had had three hands I might have been able to come up with something like this. Mira Friedmann is working the ominous shadows overmuch (granted when the story if called "Passage to Hell" that's a mighty big temptation) and one of your other Actus people can't really draw at all, might it be one of your relations trying to break into the big time on your dime?
I enjoyed the book but found it trifling compared to your other current projects. You don't have a really big imagination, do you, Etgar Keret? Sounds like the same thing over and over again. Folktales with an edge.
Customer Reviews:
Please Don't Vacation In Phaic Tan.......2006-07-03
Raging Anger and Overwhelming Delight! How dare Santo Cilauro reveal this best kept secret of travel agents. For decades my golden oriental destination has only been known to a fortunate few. Now anyone can obtain details of this five star vacation gem, but please don't go - please. I am so glad this book is in limited distribution - hopefully, the world will be slow to respond - I really want one last soujourn before popularity ruins everything. Cilauro's portrait is photographic and captivating. Modern Phiac Tan has undergone a minor evolution and some things have changed since my first visit twenty years ago - it was better then, but it still ranks at the very top of all getaways. :-)
Average customer rating:
- Keret writes gems
- Great first look
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Jetlag
Actus
Manufacturer: Top Shelf Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
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General
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
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General
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| Entertainment
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General
| Literature & Fiction
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| Classics
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| Contemporary
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Pizzeria Kamikaze
ASIN: 9659022107 |
Customer Reviews:
Keret writes gems.......2002-02-07
Etgar Keret is one of the most inspiringly fresh new voices in fiction today. His short stories are perfect capsules of prose.
In Jetlag 5, he combines his storyteller's charm with the colourful genius of some of Israels best comic artists.
The unique take that each artist brings to Keret's stories create an atmosphere of experimentation and intelligence.
Jetlag 5 ranks as one of the best graphic novels to appear on the literary scene.
Great first look.......2000-03-31
Five short stories by author Etgar Keret are adapted into graphic novellas in Jetlag, by the five-member Israeli comics collective known as Actus Tragicus. What's most impressive about this beautiful full-color collection of comics is its eerie, bizzare tone, which unites all five tales despite radical shifts in drawing and storytelling style. I especially liked Yirmi Pinkus' bittersweet "Margolis", about a small boy and his beloved piggy bank, and Mira Friedmann's oddly sinister "Passage to Hell". The three remaining entries, by Itzik Rennert, Rutu Modan, and Batia Kolton, are also very entertaining. This is my first introduction to the work of this wildly talented group, and I look forward to seeing more.
Average customer rating:
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Jetlag
Bernardo Siciliano
Manufacturer: ELECTA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 8837028288 |
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Jetlag
Christine Wunnicke
Manufacturer: New Media German Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
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General
| Mystery & Thrillers
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German
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| Literature & Fiction
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All German Books
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| Specialty Stores
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ASIN: 3894800941
Release Date: 2001-01-16 |
Book Description
Es ist Liebe auf den ersten Blick, als der Geschichtslehrer Stephen Griffin, ein scheuer junger Mann, bei einem Benefizkonzert der venezianischen Geigerin Gabriella Castoldi, einer traurigen, schoenen Frau, vorgestellt wird. Doch nicht nur Nelly Grant hat beschlossen, der schier unmoeglichen Liebe zwischen dem schuechternen Stephen und der geheimnisvollen Gabriella auf die Spruenge zu helfen: Sein kranker Vater Philip, ein Dubliner Schneider, fertigt ihm einen letzten Anzug an, in den er all seine Kunst hineinlegt — ueberzeugt davon, dass seine Kraft sich auf seinen Sohn uebertragen wird. Er will so lange nicht sterben, bis Stephen sein Glueck findet, und sein Ausharren wird schliesslich belohnt ...
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Jetlag/a Novel
Quentin Clewes
Manufacturer: Marsilio Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
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20th Century
| United States
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ASIN: 1568860080 |
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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