Ben East Books

Grid of posts 2×3

  • MFA Program for RPCVs and PCVs

    MFA Program for RPCVs and PCVs

    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 Read more

  • DeWildt’s Brutal Rural Noir

    DeWildt’s Brutal Rural Noir

    C.S. DeWildt writes a sick rural noir in Kill ‘Em With Kindness, no surprise given the strength of his previous release Love You to a Pulp. The narrative blazes through the rural backwoods of Horton burning down churches and meting out vengeance on more than a few good ol’ boys—some who deserve it, some who don’t. And Read more

  • Dark, hilarious, cutting

    Exactly the kind of review that makes it all worth the effort. Somebody thought enough of Two Pumps for the Body Man to post this. Mission Accomplished. Came on top of a great plug from killer noir writer C.S. DeWildt (Love You to a Pulp and just last week Kill ’em with Kindness) who said of Two Pumps: “…Full of Read more

  • a diplomatic noir

    At PeaceCorpsWorldwide author and reviewer John Rouse calls Two Pumps for the Body Man “Reminiscent of Joseph Heller’s famous and equally hilarious anti-war novel Catch-22.” Ben East’s humorous yet deadly serious diplomatic noir  Two Pumps for the Body Man should be required reading for any youngster contemplating a foreign service career along the conflict-torn borders of the vast American empire. It’s Read more

  • Peter Van Buren–We Meant Well

    Van Buren’s book stands shoulder-to-shoulder with many other great war books. The food is bad and the environment gritty. The Colonel’s in charge; body armor’s strapped on; everybody piles into helos or Humvees to leave base. A young soldier, comrade torn by hot shrapnel, ignores the bloody gristle staining his cheek to stop the damn bleeding. Read more

  • Zapped!

    As described at Medium, Amazon’s brick-and-mortar bookstore in Seattle sounds like the kind of place where books themselves are mere wallpaper. “The Seattle store features a perimeter lined with packed bookshelves. However, the center (and heart) of the store has been given over completely to digital products… John Mutter — editor of the bookstore-industry newsletter Shelf-Awareness — recently spent 45 minutes observing Read more