Ben East Books

Category: Writing

  • The Big Zero

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    Ben East
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    The latest from Don DeLillo subjects readers to suffocation in a plotless environment hosting flat characters who live out an endless procession of questions about life, death, and the consequences in between. That is Zero-K. Whether or not the flattened nature of this enterprise is intentional—to emphasize confinement, restriction, joylessness, life as a movement toward death—the result is…

  • Marine Security Guards at 70

    Marine Security Guards at 70

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    Ben East
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    The Marine Security Guard program this week celebrated 70 years protecting U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. Happy Fourth of July to the Ambassadors in Blue. Two books covering their service, one non-fiction, the other fiction: Greg Matos’ Shattered Glass—The Story of a Marine Embassy Guard… recounts the December 2004 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.…

  • Peace Corps Writers 2015

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    Ben East
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    The Peace Corps and Returned Peace Corps writing community at Peacecorpsworldwide is seeking nominations for favorite books published in 2015 written by a PCV, RPCV or Peace Corps Staff. I’ve compiled a partial list of the books released last year here, and welcome feedback on additional titles, reviews, and links. Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award  First given in…

  • “Standard” is Lip Service

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    Ben East
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    Dear Courtyard® by Marriott, My wife won’t stop nagging and haranguing about your towel policy. Please, make her stop. Each time we register for a room, we tell you exactly how many occupants there will be. Each time, it is four. And yet each time we show up in our pre-appointed hotel space, there are…

  • Unity Amid Terror

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    Ben East
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    We can look to the barbarians who call for broad, ignorant hatred in response to the specific ignorant hatred behind the tragedies in San Bernardino, Orlando, Portland. Or we can look for unity. While Two Pumps for the Body Man is foremost a satire of the so-called “War on Terror”, it’s also rich in other themes (the odd sexual proclivities of protagonist Jeff Mutton, for…

  • An ounce of hope, a Fifth of futility

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    Ben East
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    Review: God in Neon by Sam Slaughter Sam Slaughter’s collection of stories features protagonists paddling up a great river of booze. Their strokes are futile, the current strong: with beer, tequila, whiskey, Old Crow, Jack, PBR. They struggle under the blurry burden of constant intoxication, their boozing not an act so much as a reality,…

  • Free Pumps!

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    Ben East
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    One week left in the Goodreads giveaway of Two Pumps for the Body Man. Follow the link at left to win a copy. Book reviewers can contact me directly for an electronic copy. The Second World War Had Catch-22. The War on Terror Has 2 Pumps. Jeff Mutton walks the diplomatic beat protecting American officials in Saudi Arabia. An expert with guns and…

  • MFA Program for RPCVs and PCVs

    MFA Program for RPCVs and PCVs

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    Ben East
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    Reposting this opportunity for the Peace Corps community to earn an MFA. Original content from Peace Corps Worldwide: Are you inspired by your Peace Corps service? Do you have an affinity for writing? Looking to write a memoir or book about your Peace Corps experience? John Coyne (RPCV Ethiopia 1962-64), editor of Peace Corps Worldwide, has…

  • A Catch-22 for Diplomacy

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    Ben East
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    Two Pumps for the Body Man Set in Saudi Arabia, Two Pumps does for American diplomacy and the War on Terror what Catch-22 did for military logic during the Second World War: The enemy can’t kill us if our institutions kill us first. Jeff Mutton walks the diplomatic beat protecting American officials in Saudi Arabia.…

  • The Departed–Ten Years After

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    Ben East
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    The opening column in this month’s Foreign Service Journal is a timely and moving reminder of friends and colleagues killed ten years ago in a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. American Foreign Service Association President Robert J. Silverman writes: The Foreign Service has taken more deaths in the line of duty, on a percentage basis, than has…