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 readingCategory Archives: Book Reviews: Travel
Million Mile Walker Dispatch, My Special Edition, January, 2022 Issue
Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, Several author friends have asked what the basis for my passion and concern about Guatemala is, which I answer in my “Special Edition” column in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter. In our Culture Watch, I’ll reflect on the implications of a lack of consensus around the “Build Back Better” plan while the Senate approves a record budget for our military on a bi-partisan basis. Amongst all the craziness, a sense of humor is a must, so I’ve included Just Keep Laughing. My Writing, Interviews and Reviews, Voices of the Day, and […]
Continue readingThe Saddest Pleasure, Moritz Thomsen: A Personal Reflection from a Former Peace Corps Volunteer, by Mark D. Walker
News from Eland View this email in your browser Welcome to the Eland Books end of January newsletter. We do hope you’ll enjoy reading it. If you wish to unsubscribe, please use the link in the footer. The Saddest Pleasure Moritz Thomsen A personal reflection from former Peace Corps Volunteer, Mark D. Walker Moritz Thomsen was an iconic author and figure to his devoted fan base, and before his death in 1991, he had written five extraordinary books. Although we are of different generations and never met, we shared some similar life experiences as Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) involved with […]
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 readingAn Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I purchased this book for a trek through the Hopi and Navajo Nations in order to better appreciate a different culture, worldview food and lots more. They are two of five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people which once inhabited this country—the Navajo Nation is the largest. I chose this book to get a perspective from a Native American and how they resisted “Manifest Destiny” and a U.S. “settler-colonial” regimen, which is rarely presented in our history books. Spanning four hundred years, the bottom-up peoples’ history reframes U.S. […]
Continue readingThe Green Pope by Miguel Angel Asturias, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I initially read this book years ago in Spanish but decided to read and review it in English as its story is so relevant to the challenges facing Guatemala today. I’m also producing a documentary on immigration and social justice challenges in Guatemala, Trouble in the Highlands and this book deals with land tenure and the control of land by international/U.S. corporations. And the author is a Nobel Prize winner for literature. Much of my documentary and Asturias’s works are inspired by the Maya culture in the highlands of Guatemala. This is an overarching theme which influenced the […]
Continue readingThe President by Miguel Angel Asturias, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I’d read this Latin American classic in Spanish years ago, but decided to read it again in English in order to share it with a broader audience. Although it was published before I was born, it’s relevant today, as it portrays the damaging psychological impact of a totalitarian government and the brutality it will go through to maintain power—a phenomenon all too real to Guatemalans today. Much to my surprise, my Guatemalan wife had to read this when she was in seventh grade – something I wouldn’t recommend for today’s students in the U.S. even though it’s been translated into […]
Continue readingRed Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation by Nick Estes, Melanie Yazzie, Jennifer Denetdale and David Correia Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Ironically, I finished reading this book on what was called “Columbus Day,” which is not what it used to be—there’s a new story/reality in town. And this book, written by four professors at the University of New Mexico—three of the four are from Dine and Kul Wicasa tribes, provides a decidedly different perspective on our country’s relationship to, and treatment of, Indigenous communities. A decidedly Indigenous perspective. And for the first time in our history, a U.S. President officially issued a proclamation marking “Indigenous Peoples Day.” Much of this was never taught in any of my high school history courses […]
Continue readingThe Scandal of the Century and Other Writings by Gabriel García Márquez, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
“I don’t want to be remembered for One Hundred Years of Solitude, nor for the Nobel Prize, but rather for the newspaper. I was born a journalist and today I feel more than ever that I am a reporter. It’s in my blood.” After all the accolades of his fiction writing, few appreciate how important journalism was to Marquez and overlook the importance to journalism to learning to tell a story and writing fiction. The author’s strong political sensitivity and involvement was impacted by the political violence which interrupted his academic. In April 1948 the assassination of the charismatic politician […]
Continue readingLove in Any Language: A Memoir of a Cross-Cultural Marriage, by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I have a soft spot for books written by tough, honest women who bring an inner sense of who they are and what’s different and unusual around them. I also appreciate simply told memoirs from fellow travelers, especially Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. As I told the author, her timing couldn’t be better (the book drops later this month), since my Guatemalan wife and I are closing in on our 50th anniversary, making this an opportune time for me to appreciate, reflect and celebrate our matrimonial journey and what makes for a successful blended marriage. I’ve already reviewed the author’s […]
Continue reading