Customer Reviews

Lasso the World

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Lasso the World is a clearly written series of time resilient vignettes covering four of the seven continents. Written over a quarter century as newspaper and magazine articles, the compilation reads fresh like the desert in bloom. Starley Talbott, self-taught journalist, has stitched together a beautiful comforter for those whose blood is charged with tumbleweed.

Talbott joined the Peace Corps in 2001 at the age of sixty. This book, published one year after her return from a northwestern province in South Africa, includes a piece about her experience and another about a return wedding trip. Nicknamed Ausi Naledi (sister star) by her younger South Afrincan host Stella, Talbott served as an AIDS educator in a portion of the country unaccustomed to foreigners as peers.

"Don't be afraid," said one young man as he stared. "I just want to look at you."

Even her host was surprised. "We didn't think you would really live with us."

She stayed and then returned for a wedding described in a separate piece. The entire village seemed to be recruited to build, cook and participate in tradition. An ox was slaughtered and a bowl of its blood buried to advise the ancestors. With her residency, Talbott earned the villager's trust. When an uncle of the bride ran out of film, he asked Talbott to loan him a roll.

"My camera is digital," she explained. "Well," he responded, "I am out of film, so you are the official wedding photographer."

In a world of instant communication and increasingly fast transporation, Talbott's work is a good reminder that the sacred is all around us if we have the strength to knock aside the blinders and spit out the bit of false expectations.

Reading Starley's book is like having a conversation with her, and being her partner as she travelled. It's exciting to meet interesting people through her. What an adventure!

Ruth A. Wilkerson
Sun Lakes, Arizona

I have read Starley's book and must say it is excellent reading. She is able to transport the reader to those distant lands and other cultures that we, very likely, will never experience. From a native wedding in Africa to the high mountains of Peru to the rural areas of the US she takes us on a heart warming journey with her colorful and vivid descriptions of what she saw and felt. It is well worth your investment in the time to read this gem.
Senator Ed Glassgow