Latest review posted at Peace Corps Worldwide, home for Peace Corps-affiliated writers who publish stories from around the world.

Mark Salvatore  writes simple, declarative sentences.

His Peace Corps memoir, Shade of the Paraiso, is stripped to fact and detail, observation and truth. Even its replication of time — passing slowly at first, building inexorably over months, then racing quickly to its conclusion — makes the narrative foremost a work of literary control.

It’s an art, how much the writer reveals of his existence in rural Paraguay — all the while revealing little of his own true emotions.

The closest we get to knowing Salvatore is to appreciate his obvious fortitude in the face of familiar Peace Corps challenges: the petty counterpart; the bullying ‘big-man’; the general estrangement from community; the recurring uncertainty. Even the elements, wind and rain and mud, conspire against him.

Read the full review here, and see what else is up in the Peace Corps community, including new books, reviews, and news about the agency.

Peace Corps Worldwide celebrates the Peace Corps experience by publishing stories from around the world by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), and Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), to share with all who have a desire for international understanding.

This effort is at the heart of the Third Goal of the Peace Corps — to “bring the world back home.” Publicizing the writings of  RPCVs and PCVs, all their novels, short stories, essays and poetry is a positive way of educating Americans about the world, an essential Peace Corps Third Goal activity to provided a link between the cultures of the world and our culture.

All work done for Peace Corps Worldwide is volunteer, and the site is in no way associated with the Peace Corps or the National Peace Corps Association.

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