NOT QUITE PARADISE(ISBN=) 英文原版

　　A chronicle of life on the resplendent island, combining the
immediacy of memoir with the vividness of travelogue and
reportage
　　Adele Barker and her son, Noah, settled into the central
highlands of Sri Lanka for an eighteen-month sojourn, immersing
themselves in the customs, cultures, and landscapes of the
island—its elephants, birds, and monkeys; its hot curries and sweet
mangoes; the cacophony of its markets; the resonant evening chants
from its temples. They hear stories of the island’s colorful past
and its twenty-five-year civil war between the Sinhalese majority
and the Tamil Tigers. When, having returned home to Tucson, Barker
awakes on December 26, 2004, to see televised images of the
island’s southern shore disappearing into the ocean, she decides
she must go back. Traveling from the southernmost coasts to the
farthest outposts of the Tamil north, she witnesses the ravages of
the tsunami that killed forty-eight thousand Sri Lankans in the
space of twenty minutes, and reports from the ground on the
triumphs and failures of relief efforts. Combining the immediacy of
memoir and the vividness of travelogue with the insight of the best
reportage, Not Quite Paradise chronicles life in a place few have
ever visited.–From the Trade Paperback edition.

　　Adele Barker, who was awarded a Ucross Fellowship for her work
on this book, is the author or editor of five books on Russian
literature and cultural life. Most recently, she received a
Fulbright Senior Scholar grant to teach and write in Sri
Lanka.–From the Trade Paperback edition.

　　x “Rich in the tales of Sri Lanka under colonial British rule
as well as coverage of the current civil war, Barker’s memoir is an
enlightening and captivating read.”—Kristine Huntley,
Booklist
 　　“Anyone going to Sri Lanka should consider Adele Barker’s
Not Quite Paradise essential reading. Even travelers headed to
other parts of the globe—or those going no farther than their own
living room—will find this story of an American woman thoughtfully
wending her way through the complexities of another country’s
culture and history fascinating.”—Kristin Ohlson, author of
Stalking the Divine and coauthor of Kabul Beauty School
   “Adele Barker offers this memorable gift: the story of
strangers from very different countries becoming cherished and
enduring friends. Against the background of a most beautiful
country and through the tragedies that have marred its recent
history, her love of the land and for its people won a high place
in this reader’s heart.”—Mary Oliver, Pulitzer Prize–winning
poet
  　From the Trade Paperback edition.