Ben East Books

Category: Nonfiction

  • Review–Memoir from Paraguay

    Review–Memoir from Paraguay

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    Ben East
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    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,…

  • Levity with Brevity

    Levity with Brevity

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    Ben East
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    My copy of Flash Nonfiction Funny cometh! I hope the wait’s as brief as the material—rib-tickling bites of 750 words or less compiled by editors Tom Hazuka and Dinty W. Moore (yes). As the book makes its way to my doorstep, I’m looking at the anthology’s 71 contributors (including myself) and the first name to…

  • Uncle Sam, Matchmaker

    Uncle Sam, Matchmaker

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    Ben East
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      I pictured myself in a Peace Corps-issue hammock on an island somewhere, or crossing high glaciers in the glaring Himalayan sun. Then the recruiter called and offered Malawi. Pointless to remind her what I’d written where the application asked my preference: ‘Anywhere but Africa.’ Before that call, a recruiter—maybe the same recruiter—offered another would-be…

  • Adventures in Punctuation

    Adventures in Punctuation

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    Ben East
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    Important for boys: Digging up the backyard to make a pond, building makeshift shelters out of branches, then hiding inside to spot the wildlife attracted to the pond. Not important for boys: Punctuation. Or did the publisher assume that some kid’s sister would get ahold of The Boy’s Book of Adventure and refuse to let…

  • Foreign Service, Under Covers

    Foreign Service, Under Covers

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    Ben East
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    DC-area writers, consider stopping by the American Foreign Service Association for this year’s book market featuring a talk on writing and publishing from 25-year veteran literary agent and editor Deborah Grosvenor. Two dozen Foreign Service-affiliated authors will also be there with their latest work. Find out what publishers are looking for when it comes to writing…

  • The Run

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    Ben East
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    My son’s offering his services as my campaign manager. More than the trappings of power, I think the third grader’s hooked on creating slogans. ‘Want the Best? Vote the Beast.’ Beast is a nickname I picked up in Jr. High. It was my sister’s fault. A clever P.E. teacher pegged her first initial against her…

  • Supporting the Women’s March on Washington

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    Ben East
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    I may not be marching, but I refuse to be silent. The cause is just and the timing right. I will be counted among the marchers by rolling up my sleeves at home. A list of ways you can do the same: 1. Make the signs. 2. Airport/train/bus pickup for out-of-towners. 3. Pack their lunch…

  • 20 Years On: Peace Corps & Writing

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    Ben East
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    Today’s the day 20 years ago that two score optimistic & good-willed Americans gathered at the 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to begin the most excellent adventure I know, a blend of humanitarian endeavor, mutual group support, and self-reliance in the face of a great unknown. We were to spend the next 27 months as Peace Corps Volunteers in…

  • My Speech for the DNC

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    Ben East
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    I wasn’t surprised to learn the DNC would go with President Obama instead of me last night. And in some ways I’m glad they did. It was an awesome speech about our great Republic. Bravo. Had I been given the chance to let my own voice ring out in Philadelphia, this is what I would have…