Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
What began as a bold experiment in grassroots service produced future ambassadors to help guide U.S. diplomacy through seven decades of global upheaval.
Read, Listen, Watch
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Of all the artists — musicians, painters, actors & stand-up comedians, even poets — I put my own kind at the very bottom. Novelists ask too much of their audience. These others thrive on immediacy, accessibility, and entertainment. Musicians bang it out live in short bursts or cast long, sweeping arcs; the audience has only to…
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Atop the U.S. Capitol Dome stands a 19 ½-foot, 15,000-lb bronze woman in a classical Roman chiton. Workers hoisted her up there in five pieces, completing her installation in December 1863. Not a good year for national unity. She’s unusual for her era. “Armed Freedom,” as she’s known, bears a sword and wears a helmet at…
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In an effort to prove why writing is easy and speaking is hard, I decided to do live stand-up at the library in Oakton, VA. Drop by to find out why I write instead of preach, and what’s behind that title—Two Pumps for the Body Man. Register here.
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Regardless of where you stand on the removal of monuments to Confederate slavery and racism, one thing is clear: the decades-long struggle of non-smokers everywhere goes entirely forgotten, with nary a statue.* In the 1970s the restaurants my family frequented offered non-smokers three tables at best. We might wait half an hour just to get…
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The morning of December 6, 2004, five heavily armed terrorists stormed the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I remember loud pops from the AK-47s and the muffled thud of improvised explosive devices; I remember hours hunkered under a desk and a scramble for protection when the Marine called “Gas!; I remember crouching through our…
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I could post the latest literary event on video, or this. Musicians make better company than writers. Books can wait until tomorrow.
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I had a good time interviewing photographer and author Brian Neely some months back. His book, A Wine Filled Year, explores in photos and text the vineyards and wines and wine-making process from across the Hungarian countryside. The American Foreign Service Association was kind enough to post the exchange. I confess my opening is stilted (this…
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I heard this gem last week, sound advice to anyone who bleeds ink: I keep my muse on a chain. And when I get 20 minutes I yank on the chain and say, ‘C’mon, muse.’ The man with the chain is Matthew Palmer, novelist and Foreign Service Officer, speaking at the American Foreign Service Association…
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Last month American Diplomacy included my review of Ambassador James R. Bullington’s Foreign Service Memoir, The Road Less Traveled. The book recounts a career that began with the U.S. military build-up in Vietnam and took the author to Burma, Chad, Benin, and Burundi, where he served as Ambassador, and Niger, where he served from 2001-2006 as Country Director…
Ben East Books 