The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo: Summary and book reviews of The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley, plus links to an excerpt from The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo and a biography of Paula Huntley.
The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo
by Paula Huntley
Hardcover: Jan 2003,
237 pages.
Paperback: Feb 2004,
272 pages.
In August 2000, Paula Huntley's husband took a leave of absence from his teaching post at a law school, and she resigned from her marketing job of thirteen years. Huntley's husband had signed on with the American Bar Association to help rebuild Kosovo's legal system. Not quite sure how she could be of any service in a country that had suffered so much, Huntley found a position at a private school teaching English to a group of Kosovo Albanians. In this inspiring diary of her experiences in Kosovo, Huntley describes the deep friendships she formed with her students and the remarkable book club that they created . . .
One day in a bookstore in Prishtina, Huntley stumbled upon a copy of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea and--judging that it was just the right reading level and length--she made copies of it for the group. Despite lingering concerns that this quintessential American writer so notorious for his machismo might not resonate, the story of the old man's struggle to bring in his big fish touched them deeply. So deeply in fact that, though the group went on to read other great American writers, a name for their club was born: The Hemingway Book Club of Kosova.
This book reveals both the fragility and strength of the human spirit. Neither a journalist nor a historian, Huntley describes her students' experiences during the war and the intimacy of the bond that she formed with them with a rare purity and directness. A vision of great hope, The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo reveals the power of human connection to bring about healing in even the most war-torn circumstances.
The Washington Post - Jon Fasman
Paula Huntley's surprisingly affecting memoir arrives at an opportune moment; it reminds us not merely that Kosovo exists but also of the importance of that Bush-Rovian bogeyman, nation-building . . . Nation-building requires not merely, not even primarily the commitment of government resources; it also requires brave ordinary Americans like Paula Huntley -- and one hopes, like some of her readers, who will perhaps be inspired by her stories -- to leave the comforts of home and see the world unmediated through television cameras or journalists' eyes.
Hope Magazine - Sara Terry
This unpretentious record is an all too rare thing --a memoir of the heart about a forsaken part of the world that blazed into headlines, grabbed its bloody fifteen minutes of fame, and then promptly fell off the West's radar screen once again . . . Huntley offers no solutions, no analysis. But what does light this book is her persistent faith in the power of connectedness, of nurturing the human spirit, of the obligations that we, as human beings, have to one another.
Rocky Mountain News
[Huntley] reminds readers that life-and effective writing-is not always about following the rules, but about following your heart.
Boston Globe - Michael Kenney
[Huntley's journal] is a glowing testament to why people in far-off countries about which we know little, and too often care even less, still admire, respect, and even love Americans.
The San Francisco Chronicle - Brad Newsham
[Huntley's] memoir is poignant, thoughtful, and humble -- and exactly the kind of story Americans need to hear right now.
Newsday - Daphne Uville
[Huntley] has ensured that anyone who reads her book will truly know and remember this forsaken Balkan land.
San Jose Mercury News - Jill Wolfson
This moving, painful and ultimately uplifting memoir began as a series of e-mails to friends at home, and the entries retain the casual, heartfelt wisdom of someone writing off the top of her head. Huntley is all the things a reader would want in a guide to a foreign land at times, angry, at times frustrated with politics, at times funny, but always homing in on the most telling, human experiences.
Ft. Worth Star Telegram - Lev Raphael
Gripping, heartbreaking reading . . . .The interweaving of Hemingway's story, the students' narratives of terror and Huntley's own tales of discovery make for a book that is stirring and nearly impossible to put down.
Publishers Weekly
Huntley's journal not only shares their stories, but reminds readers that by volunteering, people get back more than they give.
Kirkus Reviews
Coming across most forcefully here are the everyday revelations of a land, history, and circumstance so different than any the author had ever known the honor-bound blood feuds, the pervasive fear, the long memories so successfully exploited by ideologues, the organizational jockeying and international politicking amid the misery, the remarkable instinct to survive, but also the godawful crushing of that instinct when experiences are just too horrible to be absorbed.
Booklist
Although she never intended for her journal to be published, its beautiful, soul-searching passages deserve to be embraced by the world.
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
Sometimes a small story tells a far larger one. Such is the case with The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo. Paula Huntley shows us the common humanity that can heal even the most terrible wounds.
Jason Elliott, author of An Unexpected Light Travels in Afghanistan
This book is brave and heartfelt . . . I hope it will become an inspiration to many others.
Jeri Laber, a founder of Human Rights Watch and author of The Courage of Strangers
...engaging, compassionate and insipirational...Paula Huntley's loving involvement with her students went far beyond teaching she changed their lives...
Melanne Verveer, Chair, Vital Voices Global Partnership and former Chief of Staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton
Every American should read this absorbing book so they can better understand why the United States intervened in Kosovo...
Dr. Susan F. Beegel, editor, The Hemingway Review
This book is an important plea for Americans to become more involved in the wider world...
Terence Ward, author of Searching for Hassan
...shines a human light on the brave Kosovar Muslim Albanians.
Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia, Another Country, and The Middle of Everywhere
This wonderful book is a story of love and transformation. Huntley is an excellent storyteller....She writes with heart and intelligence, which is my definition of wisdom. Soon the reader is a member of The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo.
A brilliantly conceived and illuminating reconsideration of a key period in the life of Ernest Hemingway that will forever change the way he is perceived and understood.
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Newsday - Daphne Uville
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
