Online review from www.travel-travel-travel.com 9/25/2007
THE BOOK TRAVELER– BAD KARMA Confessions of a Reckless Traveller in Southeast Asia
By Tamara Sheward Academy Chicago Publishers US$17.95
BAD KARMA is for the young and young-at-heart who will enjoy the author’s brash take on lesser known spots in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
As Australian Tamara Sheward and sidekick, Eli, indulge their adventurous appetites with sometimes reckless abandon, their escapades highlight many pitfalls that await travelers out on their own, the ones who want to experience the “real” Southeast Asia.
The 300-plus page paperback is an eye-opener that the things we take for granted in our home countries are rarely accessible in far away lands (such as fast food establishments like the famous McD, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc)
Wickedly funny, even if the Aussie slang requires some translation, Sheward reveals the less than ordinary side of these once little-known places to tourists.
If anything, visitors should always carry extra local currency, especially farangs (foreigners) who are easy targets for inflated prices e.g. bus tickets, visas, etc.
The colorful travelogues on the people, visitors and locals alike, give travel writing that “edge” on normally flat narratives.
Reminds me of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Tahir Shah, minus the expletives!
- Bridget Azeez
Monday, September 24, 2007
Publishers Weekly reviews
** Starred Review **
Hamas: A History from Within Azzam Tamimi. Interlink/Olive Branch, $20 paper (384p)
ISBN 978-1-56656-689-6
In this trenchant history spanning from the first days of the 1987 intifada to the sweeping democratic victory of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Palestinian elections of January 2006, London-based scholar Tamimi argues that seeing Hamas as merely another face of Al Qaeda obscures more than it elucidates. A successor to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas comes out of a transnational Islamic reform movement that grew among Palestinians in the 1970s, largely in reaction to Arab nationalism's failure to champion the Palestinian cause. Increasingly, against a string of failed peace processes and the corruption and concessions of the PLO-led secular leadership, Hamas's popular support has rested heavily on its stance as a militant resistance movement wedded to the Palestinian dream of regaining pre-1948 Palestine, and as provider of essential social services. Tamimi draws extensively on the words of insiders in carefully charting and contextualizing the development of Hamas's highly resilient organization, shifting outlook and embrace of various tactics, including the offer of a truce with Israel and, most controversially, suicide bombing. Although mostly dispassionate and at times critical, this is a generally sympathetic analysis. It will be a key resource in English for any serious assessment of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
** Starred Review **
Hamas: A History from Within Azzam Tamimi. Interlink/Olive Branch, $20 paper (384p)
ISBN 978-1-56656-689-6
In this trenchant history spanning from the first days of the 1987 intifada to the sweeping democratic victory of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Palestinian elections of January 2006, London-based scholar Tamimi argues that seeing Hamas as merely another face of Al Qaeda obscures more than it elucidates. A successor to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas comes out of a transnational Islamic reform movement that grew among Palestinians in the 1970s, largely in reaction to Arab nationalism's failure to champion the Palestinian cause. Increasingly, against a string of failed peace processes and the corruption and concessions of the PLO-led secular leadership, Hamas's popular support has rested heavily on its stance as a militant resistance movement wedded to the Palestinian dream of regaining pre-1948 Palestine, and as provider of essential social services. Tamimi draws extensively on the words of insiders in carefully charting and contextualizing the development of Hamas's highly resilient organization, shifting outlook and embrace of various tactics, including the offer of a truce with Israel and, most controversially, suicide bombing. Although mostly dispassionate and at times critical, this is a generally sympathetic analysis. It will be a key resource in English for any serious assessment of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Publishers Weekly reviews
The Blackstone Commentaries by Rob Riggan. John F. Blair, $16.95 paper (280p) ISBN 978-0895873453
A former crime reporter and policeman, Riggan makes the New South circa 1972 seem positively noirish. Charlie Dugan, the larger-than-life sheriff of Blackstone County, North Carolina is running for re-election, with a powerful benefactor in local surgeon and county commissioner Dr. Martin “Doc” Pemberton. After local man Danny Carver identifies Doc as the driver of a car that forced him off a rain-slicked road, Charlie is in a quandary. He has worked to “create a more equitable justice” for the working poor like Danny Carver, but Doc’s recklessness, sense of entitlement and belief in his immunity from justice force Charlie to question his values. As Dugan struggles with his conscience and the case, he interacts with a compelling Faulknerian cast that includes his stalwart, former wild child wife Drusilla; Elmore Willis, a neophyte lawyer at war with the memory of his sainted father; and Winthrop Reedy, a mobile-home salesman trying desperately to carve out a middle-class dream. Intriguing characters, timeless themes, and powerful prose make Riggan’s second novel—following Free Fire Zone after more than 20 years—memorable. (Oct.)
The Blackstone Commentaries by Rob Riggan. John F. Blair, $16.95 paper (280p) ISBN 978-0895873453
A former crime reporter and policeman, Riggan makes the New South circa 1972 seem positively noirish. Charlie Dugan, the larger-than-life sheriff of Blackstone County, North Carolina is running for re-election, with a powerful benefactor in local surgeon and county commissioner Dr. Martin “Doc” Pemberton. After local man Danny Carver identifies Doc as the driver of a car that forced him off a rain-slicked road, Charlie is in a quandary. He has worked to “create a more equitable justice” for the working poor like Danny Carver, but Doc’s recklessness, sense of entitlement and belief in his immunity from justice force Charlie to question his values. As Dugan struggles with his conscience and the case, he interacts with a compelling Faulknerian cast that includes his stalwart, former wild child wife Drusilla; Elmore Willis, a neophyte lawyer at war with the memory of his sainted father; and Winthrop Reedy, a mobile-home salesman trying desperately to carve out a middle-class dream. Intriguing characters, timeless themes, and powerful prose make Riggan’s second novel—following Free Fire Zone after more than 20 years—memorable. (Oct.)
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