African Son

by William J. Hemminger

Overview

African Son is a record of the author’s many trips to Africa—as a Peace Corps volunteer, Fulbright scholar, teacher, and traveler—over the course of thirty years. These personal essays range from sympathetic descriptions of village life in Senegal and Cameroon to detailed accounts of the rich physical and natural worlds in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Madagascar to a mock-curriculum vitae for a Cameroonian man whose skill-set is surprisingly extensive. A work of creative non-fiction, African Son describes individual and, later, family experiences in a number of African locations, from villages to major urban centers and from desert to thick, tropical forest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761858430
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	04/26/2012
Pages:	104
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William J. Hemminger teaches English and French at University of Evansville in southern Indiana. He is also a poet, translator, musician, composer, and gardener. After graduating from Columbia University, he served in Senegal as a Peace Corps volunteer. Hemminger earned a Ph.D. in 1988 and since then has worked in Madagascar and Cameroon under the auspices of the Fulbright Program.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments ix

Africa Overview Map x

A Friend of the Family 1

Grass 6

Naming the Faith 11

Toubab Diallo 20

Exchange Program 24

Missionary 32

Native Speaker 40

Dining in Africa-A Parable 46

Out of Country 56

The Dark of Heartlessness 61

Curriculum vitae 69

O, Christmas Tree 72

Lost and Found 75

Interaction 83

Visiting God's Village 87

Index 93

What People are Saying About This

Christine Djockoua Manyaka Toko

African Son is one of the best travelogues written about African. Its fifteen insightful, well-written, and well-organized essays tackle important social, cultural, and philosophical issues such as social inequities, cultural differences, man and nature, death, and spirituality. The book skillfully blends honesty and realism: the author’s feelings and attitudes towards the people and the land, as well as his scathing satire of human flaws. These exciting essays are ‘objective writing’ that depicts Africa—its merits and demerits—as well as the Westerners’ encounter with the continent. African Son is a great contribution to travel literature, African literature, and nature writing.

Richard Bradshaw

These vignettes of daily life in various African countries and the experiences of ex-patriots provide insights about human agency, which most textbooks fail to convey. This book would make a great supplementary text that would provoke thoughtful discussion so often missing in university classes.

Editorial Reviews

These vignettes of daily life in various African countries and the experiences of ex-patriots provide insights about human agency, which most textbooks fail to convey. This book would make a great supplementary text that would provoke thoughtful discussion so often missing in university classes.

Richard Bradshaw

African Son is one of the best travelogues written about African. Its fifteen insightful, well-written, and well-organized essays tackle important social, cultural, and philosophical issues such as social inequities, cultural differences, man and nature, death, and spirituality. The book skillfully blends honesty and realism: the author’s feelings and attitudes towards the people and the land, as well as his scathing satire of human flaws. These exciting essays are ‘objective writing’ that depicts Africa—its merits and demerits—as well as the Westerners’ encounter with the continent. African Son is a great contribution to travel literature, African literature, and nature writing.

Christine Djockoua Manyaka Toko