I’ve gotten to know the author over the years based on a shared appreciation of iconic writer Moritz Thomsen, who Tom met in Ecuador and our love of travel and travel writing. The Panama Hat Trail is one of my all-time favorite tales, and I was impressed when I learned it took the author two trips and eight months to complete it! My wife, who is Guatemalan, loved How I Learned English, a series of stories of Latinos learning English. Since the author is considered by many as one of the best nonfiction/travel writers, I headed for the chapter on […]
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Road Fever: A High-Speed Travelogue, by Tim Cahill, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
This book seemed a “must-read” after writing “Tschiffley’s Epic Equestrian Ride” and my 15,000-mile trek through Latin America, “Traveling Solo,” which is part of my new book, My Saddest Pleasures. Cahill takes us on a “hellarious” trek with professional long-distance driver Garry Sowerby from the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego to the northernmost point of the Dalton Highway in Alaska in a record-breaking 23 ½ days (which allowed them to convince Guinness Believe It Or Not” to underwrite the trip, as well as confirm their record) …..and they convinced corporate sponsor GMC to give the Sierra truck and support […]
Continue readingCHILD Poems of Consciousness by June Powers, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I met the author several years ago at an event of the Arizona Authors Association and ran into her again at the Phoenix Writers Club, which is when I learned about this book. After years of work with international childcare organizations, CHILD’s focus caught my attention, and the author sent me a copy. Her opening verse reflected the objective of this book of poems: Someone needs to write about it. Someone needs to say-Speak- Before walking away. Someone needs to preach about it. Until it’s gone. Her poems successfully open the reader’s eyes to the connection and awareness of customs […]
Continue readingTravels with Myself and Another: Five Journeys from Hell by Martha Gellhorn, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Martha Gellhorn wanted to be remembered as a novelist. Yet, most people remember her as one of the great war correspondents and for something that infuriated her, her brief marriage to Ernest Hemingway during the Second World War. Although Hemmingway was the unnamed “other” in her second chapter, “Mr. Ma’s Tigers,” when Martha was in China reporting on the Sino-Japanese war. She refused to be a footnote in someone else’s life, nor should she be. Since her death, several biographies and a significant PBS segment about her have been produced. I became aware of her writing while researching the iconic […]
Continue readingTime Among the Maya: Travels in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico, by Ronald Wright, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Time Among the Maya: Travels in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico by Ronald Wright Reviewed by Mark D. Walker I came across this travel classic after writing an essay published in ELAND Press and as a token of appreciation, the editor offered any three of their books. Naturally, my first choice was the book with the cover of the iconic Santo Tomas church of Chichicastenango which is filled with a mix of Indigenous flowers and women in traditional garb (traje), and the smell of incense emanating from the catholic church which often has chickens being sacrificed on the top. […]
Continue readingAllegro for Life by Earl Vincent de Berge, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I met the author and his wife, Suzanne, several years ago over lunch in Phoenix discussing fundraising strategies for an NGO they set up in Guatemala, “Seeds for a Future,” which provides training to impoverished rural women in and around Chocolá on the South coast, to improve family access to food and nutrition. I soon learned that we not only shared a love and appreciation of Guatemala and the Desert Southwest, but that Earl was also a writer and, in his case, a poet as well. I was surprised to learn that he started writing as far back as 1959 […]
Continue readingThe Iguana Killer: 12 Stories of the Heart, by Alberto Rivero Rios, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I met Alberto Rios at the Desert Nights Writers Conference at ASU in Tempe several years ago and was impressed by his literary acumen as well as his insights into the Hispanic community. I told him about my connections and interests in Latino culture and asked about participating in his literary interview show, Books & Co., which he hosted for eight years on PBS. He currently hosts an arts interview show “Art in the 48.” He was named Arizona’s first poet laureate in 2013, a post he still holds. I decided to start with one of his best-known books, […]
Continue readingOn the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K. A. Smith Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
My middle daughter handed me this book and said she thought I’d appreciate it, as St. Augustine was offering the hitchhikers guide to the cosmos of wandering hearts—and she was right! The book is a travelogue of the human heart. And a road trip with a prodigal who’s already been where you think you need to go. The book was also timely, as Augustine was a great example of the influence and power of immigrants—he was a “mestizo”—born outside of Carthage in what is today Algeria and wandering the Roman Empire in Italy, which led to what anthropologists call […]
Continue readingLies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
With the controversy around critical race theory, which is a cross-disciplinary intellectual and social movement of civil rights scholars and activities who seek to examine the intersection of race and law in the U.S., not to mention the recent assaults on boards of education across the nation by “concerned parents” to assure that their children weren’t confronted by a history which might make them feel “uncomfortable,” this seemed to be an ideal time to pick up this book. Since its first publication in 1995, Lies My Teacher Told Me has become one of the most important history books of our time. Having […]
Continue readingHarsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa Reviewed by Mark D. Walker I immediately picked up this book upon learning it was available in English, as its story is so relevant to the challenges facing Guatemala today. I’m producing a documentary on immigration and social justice challenges in Guatemala, Trouble in the Highlands, and this book deals with international intrigue and the control of land by international/U.S. corporations. A Peruvian writer, Llosa is one of Latin America’s most significant novelists and some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer in […]
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