The next book club is on Tuesday, September 24th at 7:30pm to 9:00 (we’re starting a half hour later than normal). As mentioned, we are welcoming author Josh Swiller to talk about his memoir from 2007: “The Unheard: A memoir of deafness and Africa.” (Note: we link to the Amazon page only to show which book it is since there are often similar titles. You are welcome to purchase wherever or check out from the library- whatever way you prefer.)

Zoom Registration Link:  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwscO6uqT8jEtR388rjswgwMwQ7Q6nt_bB9

Amazon Book Summary: “A young man’s quest to reconcile his deafness in an unforgiving world leads to a remarkable sojourn in a remote African village that pulsates with beauty and violence.”

Some reviews and discussion on the book:

A review from Peace Corps Worldwide https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/review-the-unheard-by-josh-swiller-zambia/  “I’ve read numerous memoirs by Peace Corps volunteers, and I can honestly say I’ve never read one as unabashedly gritty and truly eye-opening as this one. Unrelenting in its honesty, Josh Swiller’s narrative takes the reader on a tour of discovery: the life of a deaf Peace Corps volunteer serving in Africa.” As reviewed by Christine Herbert, author of “The Color of the Elephant: Memoir of a Muzungu.”

Josh Swiller was the winner of the 2008 Peace Corps Writers Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award for The Unheard https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/books/awards/non-fiction/

A review from Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780805082104 “Although doctors diagnosed Swiller’s deafness early enough to fit him with hearing aids, the young man from Manhattan’s Upper West Side still felt different. As a young adult he drifted from college to college, job to job, relationship to relationship, never quite finding what he was looking for: ‘a place beyond deafness.’ He found that place in the mid-1990s, when the Peace Corps posted him to a remote corner of Zambia. During his two-year stint working in a run-down health clinic in a rural village, he fought for irrigation projects and better AIDS facilities. He befriended a young local who played chess and provided constant counsel in the ways the young white American could—and did—run afoul of local tribesmen (and women) and their age-old ways. Deafness would have provided a unique sensory filter for anyone, yet while Swiller may have his particular aural capabilities, he also has literary talents—an eye, a voice and a narrative talent—in abundance. A story in any other Peace Corps volunteer’s hands might have been humdrum, but in Swiller’s becomes intensified, like the rigors of day-to-day Zambian life, through deprivation.”

Remember, all are welcome at book club and it is always captioned. If you would like to see something on our website or social media or have a question or suggestion for the HLAA-TC Book Club, please contact HLAA-TC Social Media Specialist (and book club organizer) Laura Hagemann at social@hlaatc.org and for more information about the book club you can visit our Book Club Page.

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