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When scriptwriter Jane Bussmann (South Park, The Fast Show, Brass Eye and Smack the Pony) moved to Hollywood, it was supposed to be the start of something better. But a day job interviewing Paris, Britney and Co. left her trapped in the Golden Age of Stupid. Then she saw a photograph of John Prendergast in Vanity Fair. His day job was ending war. He was also extremely attractive. Jane may have inferred she was a Foreign Correspondent, because suddenly she found herself on route to Africa on the trail of this modern-day Indiana Jones. There was one problem: when she got to Uganda John had left. Alone in a war-torn country, appalled by 25,000 child abductions, Jane must investigate the war crime of the century - to make John fancy her. Combining a maverick heroine, an idealist hero, comic disasters and moving tragedy, this is brilliant storytelling by a hugely talented writer.… (more)
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Arriving in Africa for the first time with a tendency to self-deprecate paves the way for a worthwhile book, while arriving in Africa with a tendency to deprecate one's surroundings paves the way to infuriating trash (c.p. Jeffrey Tayler). Bussmann is refreshingly unoffensive in her posture towards Africa, which means that it is easy to recommend her without a bunch of caveats.
I usually feel unkind recommending my favorite books about Africa (or novels from Africa) to my friends and family members who haven't lived in any of its countries. "The Worst Date Ever" is the only true exception. I could recommend this to a total one state redneck without worrying that he would develop any new unsavory prejudices (and without worrying that he would never finish it). Bussmann targets the people who deserve it and humanizes the people who don't, all while engaging her readers with the interwove sub-plot of her exaggerated crush on a notable globe-trotting humanitarian. This courtship cum desire to earn development cred was an extremely effective hook and kept her from seeming self-righteous or shmarmy.
While I will not delve back into Bussmann's previous comic writings, I will look forward to anything else that she writes while traveling in difficult contexts. Save this book for a long airplane ride, for a time when you are sick or for whenever you need a good dose of someone else's good energy.
Bussman got tired of hanging around Hollywood during 2003-2006, which she calls the Golden Age of Stupid, interviewing (mostly useless) celebrities. She decides to radically change her life by following a peace negotiator (really cute--and very useful) to Uganda so she can write an article about him, but after scraping together the money for a plane ticket he doesn't show up. Not for a month or two anyway--he's now back in Hollywood. Bussman is left to kill time in a cheap Ugandan hostel, so she decides to try doing some investigative fieldwork while she waits for the chance to interview/date her negotiator. She teaches scriptwriting at an AIDs orphanage, meets numbed victims of the warlord Joseph Kony, and interviews anyone--even very scary people--who might be able to help her figure out why for 20 years the Ugandan army has not been able to prevent Kony from kidnapping children as young as four and forcing them to fight in his militia.
Being a celebrity journalist isn't completely useless preparation for her adventures. Both smug Hollywood stars and menacing army colonels become friendly and helpful after she asks her two work-saving Magic Questions--"You're in amazing shape, what's your secret?" and "We all know what you're famous for, but how does it make you feel when you're not appreciated for your inner talents?"
The peace negotiator eventually shows up, but the interview/date she hoped for doesn't work out the way she planned. The resulting book, however, is a great success. The risks she took, and her mind-blowing accounts of traipsing around Africa kept me reading into the wee hours of the night.
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070.92 |