| Description |
255 pages ; 23 cm |
| Contents |
The deeds -- "A violent prone, poor people zone" -- The land between two rivers -- Tales of the marvelous, news of the strange -- To be incarnational -- How to make a toilet-paper-roll blowgun -- Disappearing act -- "Where's the football?" -- Momma's boy -- A man of care. |
| Summary |
"These essays recount Tom Sleigh's experiences working as a journalist during several tours in Africa and in the Middle Eastern region once called Mesopotamia, "the land between two rivers." Sleigh asks three central questions: What did I see? How could I write about it? Why did I write about it? The first essays focus on the lives of refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kenya, Somalia, and Iraq. Under the conditions of military occupation, famine, and war, their stories can be harrowing, even desperate. But unlike their depiction in mass media, their stories are often laced with an undeluded hopefulness. The second part of this book explores how writing might be capable of honoring the texture of these individuals' experiences while remaining faithful to political emotions, rather than political convictions. The final essays meditate on youth, restlessness, illness, and Sleigh's motivations for writing his own experiences in order to move out into the world."--Back cover. |
| Subject |
Sleigh, Tom.
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Sleigh, Tom -- Travel.
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Refugees -- Middle East.
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Refugees -- Africa, East.
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Refugees in literature.
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Poetry -- History and criticism.
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Authorship.
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American essays -- 21st century.
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LITERARY COLLECTIONS / American.
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| Genre/Form |
Travel writing.
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Essays.
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| Added Title |
Essays. Selections
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Land between 2 rivers |
| ISBN |
9781555977962 (paperback) |
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1555977960 (paperback) |
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