Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
Ben East’s nonfiction debut recounts how JFK’s bold experiment shaped diplomatic careers and influenced modern American diplomacy.
The figures highlighted here tracked looted antiquities after the invasion of Iraq, re-established diplomacy in Afghanistan after 9/11, and secured village infrastructure while war raged in Vietnam. As hostages in Iran, they maintained diplomatic discipline to bridge a volatile cultural divide. These are individuals of deep courage and conviction, whether integrating a southern U.S. high school or finding comfort in African village beliefs to cope with personal tragedy.
Read, Listen, Watch
-
Mystery and adventure will keep readers turning the pages, and Theroux adds rich layers of historic detail, authenticity, and curiosity to the narrative.
-
They welcomed me for a chat about about the Peace Corps, life in the Foreign Service, and my recent book, Profiles in Service.
-
The past is glibly overwritten, the present maliciously falsified, and we must fight back with the truth by sharing our stories.
-
The writer is greedy, demanding, insistent. Each word must lead the reader to the end of a sentence, a paragraph, a page.
-
The harsh environment, the boys pushed hard by striving parents, the high expectations Koreans had for themselves and Peace Corps volunteers all made for an often grinding experience
-
“Let us hope that other nations will mobilize the spirit and energies and skill of their people in some form of Peace Corps.” President Kennedy, 1961
-
My writing routine: Anytime. Anywhere. Rumpled and rocking on trains or cramped on airplanes. You can’t be precious about where, when, and how you write.
-
I’m pulling back the curtain on process, sharing an excerpt of David Greenlee’s ADST oral history alongside the final narrative form from Profiles in Service.
-
The Peace Corps volunteers would work with the campesinos. The USAID people would help the central government deliver. This would stimulate development and social integration. It was a sweet theory.
Ben East Books 