Caribbean Books

May 2, 2008
I'm grateful for this true story of a courageous man who shows us all how one person can make a difference, if we only will wake up to our opportunities. Initially I checked out The Zombie Curse: A Doctor's 25-year Journey into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti from our local library as I was preparing to go on a five-day humanitarian trip to Haiti with some students and a professor to install a water purification system at an orphanage. I liked this true story of Dr. Arthur M. Fournier's work with Haitians so much that I bought six copies, one for each of us who went to Haiti, to inspire us to perhaps one day return to our Haitian friends and do more that we have already done to help them improve their quality of life.
Yes, there is much need in places like Haiti. As we choose to start someplace as Americans who care about helping others, especially children, to get their basic life needs met, we will find that we are awakened from the Zombie Curse that has afflicted too many of us up to now. I've been asleep for the most part, too. By small things are great things brought to pass. If we can but throw back into the nourishing sea but one star fish ... it will matter to at least that one, and to those who come after that one!
Part one of the book, The Curse Descends, covers Dr. Fournier's work in Florida with Haitians back when AIDS was just being recognized. Part two, Secrets Revealed, goes into depth about the work Dr. Fournier has done in Haiti itself over the past 25¬+ years. His compassionate willingness to get involved and to open doors for hard-working Haitians who have vision for their country, and his ongoing mentoring of medical students who want to learn and help, makes this book a must-read if you, too, feel you want to understand how you can make a difference in one corner of this vineyard we call planet earth.
Jackie Ransom, Missouri

The Zombie Curse: A Doctor's Twenty-Five-Year Journey Into The Heart Of The Aids Epidemic In Haiti by Arthur M. Fournier (Physician at the Jackson Memorial Hospital and Professor of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and Vice-Chairman of Family Medicine and Associate Dean for Community Health in Miami, Florida) is the remarkable story of Dr. Fournier's passionate struggle to understanding the terrifying truths of the AIDS virus. Having first been introduced to an AIDS patient in 1979, Fournier determined to take action in helping to discover the cure for this lethal epidemic as it swiftly unfolded throughout the United States and the world. The Zombie Curse reveals the devastation experienced by the Haitian people as the prescriptions offered had little or no effect on the patients, and the broadening tragedy became increasingly pervasive through Haitian society. Very strongly recommended for all non-specialist general readers seeking a greater understanding of the early years of the AIDS outbreak, The Zombie Curse is an outstanding account of the terrible first years of AIDS epidemic and a first-hand account of the often empty pursuit of helping the Haitian victims AIDS.

Lighter fare from the author of La Cortina de Bagazo (Sugar Cane Curtain), Cartas son Cartas (Love Letters in the Sand) and Divagaciones.

A compilation of traditional Cuban and Spanish recipes. Some of my favorite dishes are in here - Lechon Asado (Roast Suckling Pig) Ropa Vieja (Shredded Beef), moros y cristianos (rice and beans cooked together as opposed to white rice and black beans as two separate sides), Elena Ruz sandwich (turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry jelly - it's really good, you'll have to trust me on this) and Dulce de Leche dessert. And even a few drink recipes like Cuba Libre (rum & coke).

All the recipes your mom and grandma used to make before we all started worrying about calories, carbs, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.

This easy-to-use map is great! I use it all the time at work to help with direct marketing mailings. Perfect quick reference with bold colors that stand out. Strongly recommend.

Neruda's early work is both accessible and evocative in ways that are not always literal. It is a shame that it is so difficult to translate. I recommend a bilingual edition to non-native speakers to ensure that you are on track, but remember: translators of Neruda often are not.

I prefer the print version of the MLA bibliography to the online as it's easier to manipulate physical pages than to slog around through slow hypertext links. Though the CD version offered by Silver Platter is excellent, it lacks access to a fully collated, alphabetized subject index. Volume 1, the most consistent and frequently consulted of 5 volumes is an excellent tool for those who wish to specialize in the literature end of the hyper-interdiscplinary miasma into which English and American Studies have increasingly ventured since the late 1980s --not that there's anything wrong with that. Volume 1, however, is the single best tool for remaining focused on one's quest to build or maintain a career as a teacher of English language literature --a vanishing creature in the sprawling mall/moll-ifying of literary studies amid its apparently irreversible stratification. (thank you for reading my runaway sentence)
Research among one's peers, within a defined realm is what makes great teachers, especially if they build their philosophical foundation without relying on the pre-set theories of big name postformalists.
Sadly, scholars, PhD and Masters candidates won't be taken seriously in their field if they don't religiously consult the MLA bibliography in its 5 volume entirety.
Dropping all ideological pretentions and defending the 5 tiered print bibliography, it's ultimately good --and necessary-- to branch out. Since the arrangement and weighting of topics from year to year in the printed subject index gets lost in the electronic versions, it's helpful to have (access to) copies of the 4 or 5 most recent print versions to properly scale your work within the visible arrangement of critical trends. Yes, to sell out and, at least temporarily &/or secretly join the ranks of the publish and perish set, taking care to avoid the addiction to theory that accelerates the latter effect.
Though costly and bulky, I can't recommend having the print tomes --or ready access to them-- enough. The brilliance of the anonymous compilers of this amazing and essential research tool is mind boggling. If you want to accelerate your research or push to the forefront of your specialty --recognized as such or not, you need access to these gems of literary metaresearch. In a perfect world, it would be sufficient to rely on one's education, intellectual curiosity and imagination to produce scholarship worthy of the classics, but in this reality, there is no better tool with which to reserve a shoulder ride on the giant of the moment. You need this.

We have one of these on every desk in our call-center, sales office, buying office and reception area. The ridiculous and time wasting area code frustrations are now gone. Now when I call someone who's left a message on my voice-mail, I know where I'm calling and what time zone they're in. Time saved and blood pressure reduced, etc.

If you rent a boat, it's a nice thing to have. Spiral bound makes it easy to use. Helped us navigate the Abacos

Ably translated from the original Spanish by Jim Normington, and deftly edited by Jack Hirschman into a bilingual format, 500,000 Azaleas: The Selected Poems Of Efrain Huerta brings to the attention of the American reading public a compendium of verses by a highly talented Mexican poet. With an original imagery replete with exuberant rhythms, Efrain Huerta probes the cultures of both Mexico and the United States as he ranges from the impact of racism in Mississippi to the political corruption in Mexico City. Phantoms: Trees, houses, bridges: phantoms./There's a heavy weeping mist,/stuck to the ground, thick, sterile,/monstrous and exhausting, a filthy mold.//Faces, legs, and hands: phantoms./And a frigid animal under the skin of the soul.//It's a world of lead, this Ohio world./Original dawn of lead and dirty petting.//Moans, kisses, laughter: Phantoms./Grey and green phantoms of desire and fear./It's like a phantom of my very self,/going off to die in the middle of a dream, right on course.

We've been to the Caribbean three times and this Access Guide, like the previous ones really helped us to narrow down the islands to visit. If you are unsure of where to go or where to stay this is the book for you. It provides a good overview of each island and gives you the feel of whether it is for you or not. While on the island it also gave us some great tips on where to eat, sleep and tour. In addition the organization method makes it easy to read. We went to Puerto Rico, Antigua, and St. Lucia and it covered them all well.

This story chronicles the lives of two people, Elizabeth and Josef. Elizabeth is a recently widowed Canadian who decides to take a teaching position on a tiny Caribbean island to heal from her sorrow. Josef is a Haitian laborer who is hiding from immigration after a thwarted attempt to escape to America. Josef starts working for Elizabeth in her garden and they work together to help a family whose mother is dying of AIDS. Along the way, they develop a special relationship.

I had a hard time putting this book down. I was fascinated by Author Ryan's ability to illustrate the plight of the native people, particularly Haitians. She succeeded in weaving it into the story without lecturing the reader. For example, a passage in the book chronicles the day of some construction workers on the island. Throughout the day though, she also writes of the dialogue overhead from tourists who remark disparagingly about what they think they are seeing. Those remarks illustrate the ignorance of the island visitors whose own typical workday is different.

I'll be watching for more work from Nora Ryan. Her ability to weave a story around these two people and the societal issues facing this little Caribbean island was outstanding. This is one of the best "love stories" I've read in a long time!