Customer Reviews

Fishing in the Sky: The Education of Namory Keita

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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.

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.

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.