Fishing in the Sky: The Education of Namory Keita [Hardcover]

Donald Lawder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

What distinguishes this remarkable narrative from other accounts of personal growth is not just its vivid and intimate picture of West African life, but the fact that its author embarked on his adventure at an age when most men and women are resigned to life in a rocking chair. At age sixty-six, after the break-up of a stormy marriage, Donald Lawder begins a new life as a volunteer teacher for the Peace Corps in the impoverished country of Mali, in West Africa. He is adopted by a Moslem family, given a Malian name, and learns to pray in the village mosque. As "Professor of English" at the state teacher's college in Mali's capital city of Bamako, he teaches Debate, Black American History, and the philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau to French-speaking African students and becomes deeply involved with a Moslem student less than one third his age. Later, after a two-year job hunt in the U.S. convinces him that America is no country for old men, he returns to Bamako for good, as chief of an African family of six children ranging in age from three to twenty-three years. He arrives in time to witness his unarmed students' heroic overthrow of the brutal dictator Moussa Traore and their confused efforts to establish one of the first democracies in West Africa.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1983, Lawder (The Wild Bird and Other Poems) volunteered for the Peace Corps at the age of 66 and was assigned to teach English in Bamako, the capital of Mali. This arresting memoir of the new life he experienced in West Africa more than makes up for the occasional passages of stilted prose. Lawder's involvement in the lives of the often impoverished people he met was heartfelt, and the Malians reciprocated by accepting him into their society. On a "name day" he was inducted into the Keita clan, one of whose leading ancestors was Namory of the subtitle. During his first three-year tenure, Lawder formed close ties with an extended Muslim family he met through a woman who cooked for him. He provides vivid portraits of the students he taught in debate and African American literature classes and describes his love affair with a young Malian woman that almost resulted in marriage. After two years in the U.S. Lawder returned to Bamako permanently, where, at the age of 78, he now lives with his adopted family of six African children, two of whom he rescued from the traditional custom of female genital excision. Photos.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: Permanent Pr Pub Co; 1st edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1877946893
• ISBN-13: 978-1877946899
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,098,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > History > Africa > Mali

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written; offers new perspective, May 25, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Los Angeles, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fishing in the Sky: The Education of Namory Keita (Hardcover)

Lawder writes beautifully of his life as an older Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. Rather than present himself as the savior of these impoverished people, he shows how he is, in a sense, saved. Adopted by a Malian family, he makes a life for himself with them, becoming a de facto grandfather. He portrays the Malians as an intelligent, warm, hard-working people living under difficult circumstances, and it's interesting to "meet" them through this absorbing book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting American Gives His Perspective on Mali, July 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Fishing in the Sky: The Education of Namory Keita (Paperback)

I was in Don Lawder's Peace Corps group and got to know him only superficially during our 3-months of training. Reading this book 21 years later, I now realize what a complex person he was. This is a great book if you are considering Peace Corps service. No two people have the same experience, so don't expect your two years to be just like his, but this will help you appreciate that you will be sent there to interact with people, not necessarily change them. Like Don, you will be changed much more than they.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read, May 17, 2006

By 

Lionwoman "Lionwoman" (CT USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fishing in the Sky: The Education of Namory Keita (Paperback)

I loved reading this book and the adventure that I shared. I really felt like I was there with the author. What also made this book particularly interesting is that the author was older when he joined the Peace Corps, so he had a more mature way of looking at life and people. Though the man is not a perfect man and I think sometimes just a bit naive, he really was a nice man sharing his very human experience and perceptions. This book really is worth the time, and I was sad to see it come to an end. I highly recommend it.