Living Poor; a Peace Corps Chronicle
Living Poor; a Peace Corps Chronicle

Author: Moritz Thomsen

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 1969

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9780295969282

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At the age of 48, Moritz Thomsen sold his pig farm and joined the Peace Corps. As he tells the story, his awareness of the comic elements in the human situation--including his own--and his ability to convey it in fast-moving, earthy prose have madeLiving Poora classic. "Hilariously funny at times, grimly sad at others and elavened with perceptive insights into the ways of the people and with breathtaking descriptions of the Ecuadorian landscape."-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

My Two Wars
My Two Wars

Author: Moritz Thomsen

Publisher: Steerforth

Published: 2007-12-31

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1586421476

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Moritz Thomsen’s My Two Wars describes the great battles in his life – one against a rich, tyrannical father; the other against anti-aircraft gunners over Germany in 1943 and 1944. It was completed shortly before Thomsen’s death, and with it he concluded the story of his unusual life. In this posthumously published masterpiece he returns to his youth growing up in a wealthy Seattle household with the father he despised, and goes off to war in Europe as a bombardier with the Eighth Air Force. In his introduction Page Stegner calls it “the best narrative account ever written of an imperfect and fragile human soul caught up in the air war over Germany.” But it is Thomsen’s other war – his lifelong and monumental battle with his father – which begins and ends the book and makes My Two Wars one of the most outrageous and memorable father-and-son stories ever told.

Emeralds of the Alhambra
Emeralds of the Alhambra

Author: John Cressler

Publisher: Milford House Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781620061978

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"How could we forget? Our world is stained with the blood of religious conflict and fanaticism, yet we managed to forget that for hundreds of years in medieval Spain, Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together in relative peace, sharing languages and customs, whispering words of love across religious boundaries, embracing a level of mutual acceptance and respect unimaginable today. Together, they launched one of the great intellectual and cultural flowerings of history. Our world aches for a future graced with tolerance and peace. Let us join together in reawakening the glory of medieval Muslim Spain, of al-Andalus. Emeralds of the Alhambra is a love story set in the resplendent Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, during the Castilian Civil War (1367-1369), a time when Muslims took up their swords to fight alongside Christians. Here is the story of William Chandon, a Christian knight, and the Sufi Muslim princess, Layla al-Khatib. As Chandon's influence at court grows, he becomes trapped between his forbidden love for Layla and his Christian heritage, the demands of chivalry and political expediency. Chandon and Layla must make choices between love and honor, war and peace, life and death, choices which ultimately will seal Granada's fate as the last surviving stronghold of Muslim Spain. Emeralds of the Alhambra is the first book in the series Anthems of al-Andalus" --Back cover.

The Emerald Atlas
The Emerald Atlas

Author: John Stephens

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published: 2011-04-05

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0375899553

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"A strong . . . trilogy, invoking just a little Harry Potter and Series of Unfortunate Events along the way."—Realms of Fantasy Siblings Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage. Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about. Until now. Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey through time to dangerous and secret corners of the world . . . a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is true—what they do can change history, and it's up to them to set things right. "A new Narnia for the tween set."—The New York Times "[A] fast-paced, fully imagined fantasy."—Publishers Weekly "Echoes of other popular fantasy series, from "Harry Potter" to the "Narnia" books, are easily found, but debut author Stephens has created a new and appealing read . . ."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

Landry Park
Landry Park

Author: Bethany Hagen

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2015-01-22

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0142425486

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In a futuristic, fractured United States where the oppressed Rootless handle the raw nuclear material that powers the Gentry's lavish lifestyle, sixteen-year-old Madeline Landry must choose between taking over her father's vast estate or rebelling against everything she has ever known, in the name of justice.

Way Station
Way Station

Author: Clifford D. Simak

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2015-07-21

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1504013182

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Hugo Award Winner: In backwoods Wisconsin, an ageless hermit welcomes alien visitors—and foresees the end of humanity . . . Enoch Wallace is not like other humans. Living a secluded life in the backwoods of Wisconsin, he carries a nineteenth-century rifle and never seems to age—a fact that has recently caught the attention of prying government eyes. The truth is, Enoch is the last surviving veteran of the American Civil War and, for close to a century, he has operated a secret way station for aliens passing through on journeys to other stars. But the gifts of knowledge and immortality that his intergalactic guests have bestowed upon him are proving to be a nightmarish burden, for they have opened Enoch’s eyes to humanity’s impending destruction. Still, one final hope remains for the human race . . . though the cure could ultimately prove more terrible than the disease. Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Way Station is a magnificent example of the fine art of science fiction as practiced by a revered Grand Master. A cautionary tale that is at once ingenious, evocative, and compassionately human, it brilliantly supports the contention of the late, great Robert A. Heinlein that “to read science-fiction is to read Simak.”

The Saddest Pleasure
The Saddest Pleasure

Author: Moritz Thomsen

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1991-01

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780712647106

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This is an account, introduced by Paul Theroux, of the author's journey as a 63-year-old gringo through Brazil. During the course of this journey he reflects on his escape in middle age from his wealthy pacific Northwest family to South America, where he became a Peace Crops worker in Ecuador. He then tells of how he brought a farm which he worked in partnership with a local friend. 12 years later his friend kicked him off the farm and Thomsen, stunned by the rejection embarked on a trip across Brazil. In candid prose, he describes Rio, Bahia, and the Amazon River, lined with one-room shacks and millionaires' rancheros. Gradually through his relationship with this extraordinary continent and with the people he meets along the way, he begins to make sense of his life.