As revealing as it is entertaining.
A laugh-out-loud debut about humanitarian work in Ecuador and Uganda during the 1980s and ’90s.
Eager to be “surrounded by happy, grateful villagers,” Brown-Waite decided to join the Peace Corps after graduating from college. During her interview, she fell in love with her recruiter, John. Suddenly more interested in snaring him than in spending two years saving the world, Browne-Waite reluctantly embarked for Ecuador to prove to John, an Irish Catholic, that she, a New York Jew, was both Peace Corps and marriage material. At a shelter in “the Armpit of Ecuador,” she helped homeless boys reunite with their families. The rape of another volunteer stirred memories of the sexual abuse in her past, and she had to be evacuated because of panic attacks. Since her therapy required more than the 40 days allotted for a Peace Corps “medevac,” she abandoned her post and spent the next two years getting an advanced degree in public health and trying to convince John to marry her. He finally did, and they moved to Uganda so he could manage a microlending project for the humanitarian organization CARE. Browne-Waite hoped to continue her work in AIDS education. Her hardships in Uganda included catching malaria when she was pregnant, defending the house from flying white termites and braving minor rebel bombings. She relates these stories with the cheery nonchalance of a seasoned expat willing to find the humor in everything, and her refusal to approach her experiences with self-congratulatory solemnity makes for a refreshing voice. The book’s hilarity is grounded by the author’s serious commitment to aid work, her reflections on raising her daughter in a third-world country and her informed, balanced portrayal of the Ugandan people.
As revealing as it is entertaining.Pub Date: April 14, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2935-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Broadway
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
