HAPPENSTANCE

In this debut memoir, a man recounts his loves and experiences as a young seminarian and later a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa.

Fisher, who goes by Mike Klungness (his middle name and stepfather’s surname) in his book, opens with a “passing overview” of his life. Readers discover that the 60-something has children and that his third (and current) wife is his first love, whom he met when they were teens. Then the author focuses on Klungness’ intricate journey. He was born in 1947 to a single mother who moved to Washington state after she married. Roman Catholic school led to his enrollment in St. Francis Seminary. Though he was quickly smitten with neighbor Gretchen Huffhines, his studies to be a priest meant they would stay merely friends. Klungness eventually left the seminary, hoping to walk down the aisle with Huffhines. But as the Vietnam War raged, he felt he had few options beyond applying to the Peace Corps. He went to his Kenya assignment alone and immersed himself in an entirely new culture, all while racial unrest unsettled his home country. He also fell for Charity Mshoi, a mother of three young children who became his common-law wife. Once his tour ended, he planned to bring his new family to the States. Despite the work’s 672-page length and Fisher’s overview that takes readers into the 21st century, the memoir ends in the early ’70s. A sequel will follow. The author includes memorable details in this first installment, from Africa’s vast landscape and local foods to the treatment for the atrophied leg of Mshoi’s son. There’s a lively focus on many of the people in Klungness’ life, such as his mother, and though this autobiography occasionally hops around decades, it’s never confusing. Fisher enriches his book with snippets of other sources, like newspaper articles, as well as Klungness’ written correspondence with Huffhines and her mom Jana’s delightfully pithy journal entries. The author moreover adds copious photographs. Only some of them are Fisher’s own pictures—and those are the most rewarding.

An absorbing personal account of life’s unpredictable turns.