The International Studies Shelf

Ships In The Desert
Jeff Fearnside
Santa Fe Writer's Project
https://www.sfwp.com
9781951631154, $14.95, PB, 136pp

https://www.amazon.com/Ships-Desert-SFWP-Literary-Awards/dp/1951631153

Synopsis: "Ships In The Desert" is a linked essay collection, with which au= thor Jeff Fearnside analyzes his four years as an educator on the Great Sil=
k Road, primarily in Kazakhstan.

Peeling back the layers of culture, environment, and history that define th=
e country and its people, Fearnside creates a compelling narrative about th=
is faraway land and soon realizes how the local, personal stories are, in f= act, global stories.

Fearnside sees firsthand the unnatural disaster of the Aral Sea -- an under= -reported, man-made environmental crisis that has devastated the region and=
impacts the entire world.

Fearnside also examines the sometimes controversial ethics of Western missi= onaries, and reflects on personal and social change once he returns to the = States.
=20
"Ships in the Desert" deftly explores the universal issues of religious big= otry, cultural intolerance, environmental degradation, and how a battle ove=
r water rights led to a catastrophe that is now being repeated around the w= orld.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, the extraord= inary essays that comprise "Ships In The Desert" creates a memorable and th= ought-provoking read from cover to cover. A welcome and unreservedly recomm= ended addition to personal, community, and academic library collections, "S= hips In The Desert" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kin= dle, $1.49) for the personal reading lists of readers with an interest in I= ndia, environmental issues, travelogs, and the art of the essay.

Editorial Note: Jeff Fearnside (https://www.jeff-fearnside.com) is the auth=
or of the short-story collection Making Love While Levitating Three Feet in=
the Air and the chapbook A Husband and Wife Are One Satan, winner of the O= rison Chapbook Prize. Other awards for his writing include a Grand Prize in=
the Santa Fe Writers Projects Literary Awards Program, the Mary Mackey Sho=
rt Story Prize, and an Individual Artist Fellowship award from the Oregon A= rts Commission. His work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies = such as The Paris Review, Los Angeles Review, Story, and many others.

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