Another Day In Paradise: Summary and book reviews of Another Day In Paradise by Carol Bergman, plus links to an excerpt from Another Day In Paradise and a biography of Carol Bergman.
Another Day In Paradise International Humanitarian Workers Tell Their Stories
by Carol Bergman
Hardcover: Oct 2003,
256 pages.
From the world's most troubled corners, true stories of courage and
compassion.
Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia, Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Gaza Strip … Places that
evoke scenes of unimaginable suffering and hardship, the human condition at its
worst. But they are also places that highlight humanity at its best--the capacity
for generosity, self-sacrifice, and compassion. Among those who live at the
intersection of these realities are thousands of international humanitarian
workers--dedicated men and women from many countries who leave behind their own
comfort and security to face dangers, sorrows, and brutality that most of us
cannot imagine. Carol Bergman sought them out and encouraged them to tell their
stories--not to add to the chronicles of horror, but as a witness and a
challenge. Some of them are heroes; others, ordinary men and women who could not
sit idly by while others were suffering.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
America Magazine - Claire Schaeffer-Duffy Another Day in Paradise is, ironically, a record of life lived in the
corners of hell. While the cruelties described are immense, so too are the human
resilience and courage documented in the book's pages. We need, especially
now, to read these descriptive narratives from the people who risk their lives
on the ground while politicians and diplomats negotiate in velvet-curtained
rooms. Their observations will help clear our heads of any delusions about
war being merely a policy option with some collateral damage. More important,
the examples of practical compassion recorded in Another Day in Paradise
remind us of a truth about ourselves that is often lost when killing becomes
commonplace Human beings were made to nourish and preserve life.
Time Magazine - Maryann Bird
Bergman set out to produce a book of conventional
reportage. But when she read British-born nurse Iain Levine's previously
unpublished stories about his 20 years doing humanitarian work in India, Sudan
and Mozambique, Bergman realized that aid workers could tell their tales better
than she could. Her book became a collection of lived experiences, and is
richer for it... Bergman's eclectic compilation is blessed with an eloquent
forward by John Le Carré who salutes 'those brave enough to visit life's hells on
foot instead of on the television screen'.
Onefortytwo.com
If you have ever wondered about the work of a Peace Corps volunteer, or the
stories of those affected by natural disaster or war, use Another Day in
Paradise as your starting point; it is well worth the read.
The Independent (UK newspaper) Another Day In Paradise brings together front-line testimony from
Afghanistan, Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia and the Gaza Strip - places where th
best and the worst of humanity is on display - gathered by the journalist Carol
Bergman , herself a child of refugees from genocide. John le Carre's
foreword pays tribute to a group of people 'self-humbling in the face of
monstrous disaster' who suppress 'useless pity in favour of doing something
practical'
The Spectator (UK) - Caroline Moorehead
This anthology is really a celebration of the
newish breed of international aid workers, the doctors, nurses, nutritionists,
logisticians and engineers, who build camps, dispense food, bring water,
negotiate truces, interview prisoners and curb looters on behalf of such
organisations as Oxfam, Medecins san Frontieres and the International Rescue
Committee.... it is hard not to come away from [this] anthology not just
admiring her contributors but intrigued by the nuances of feeling that they bring to their work.
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Their common theme is that, despite the growing dangers to front-line
workers, the world cannot neglect the victims of war and famine, and must not be
terrorized into abandoning them. The timing of the book launch couldn't be more appropriate.
From the Foreword by John le Carré
What is it that makes this anthology of personal experience in the
field so particularly moving? Is it the courage and dedication of the
contributors? To a point. Is it their self-humbling in the face of monstrous
disaster? That too. But for my money, it is their self-control. It's their
suppression of useless pity in favor of doing something practical. It's their
determination, in the foulest conditions that man and nature can dream up
between them, to make human decency work rather than weep; to do whatever they
can, again and again, knowing it can never be enough.
Roy Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America
Humanitarian workers define courage in the 21st century...This book gives
voice to their stories, to their ability to survive in the face of death, to
their humanity to one another and to those they seek to serve.
Madame Sadako Ogata,author of The Man Who Tried to Save the World
Gives the reader a good sense of the challenges involved [in
humanitarian work]--and why the effort matters.
Scott Anderson, author, The Man Who Tried to Save the World
In this extraordinarily powerful collection, we hear in the
humanitarian workers' own words their testimonials of life and death, of
compassion and simple courage, tales which should both haunt and inspire
us.
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From the Foreword by John le Carré
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