Mark G. WentlingBesprekingen

Overall, the account was enjoyable. I found the scope of the book extensive and the coverage somewhat inconsistent; partially this is due to the real constraints of not spending enough time in a locale, as well as author's take on his experiences. The author relates personal accounts of his experiences as well as researched information. While some of the information is useful, the book can benefit from being pared down, which I hope the author takes into consideration, for subsequent volumes.
½

AFRICAN MEMOIR II seemed like it would be a very interesting, informative book. It was the middle of a three-part series about all the countries in Africa presented alphabetically covering Libya through Senegal.
Mark G. Wentling, the author, worked for US-based agencies in Africa for several decades and decided to visit each country and write about each of them. Most of his traveling expenses were paid by other parties, primarily the US government.
Some of the chapters talked about the residents, occupations, politics, wars, and living conditions. Too much of it was name dropping without adding anything to the book.
The length of the chapters was very uneven. In some cases, they were only a couple pages long because he never actually got to visit much of the country because he never got out of the airport. Niger, on the other hand, had two chapters comprising almost half the book. It contains an example of the need for a competent editor. The first four sentences in the first chapter include “I feel impotent....” There is no way I can possibly do justice to communicating....” ‘I do not know where to begin....”
The interview with the author at the end includes some information about the project but the book uses initials for organizations that are not explained.
I tried very hard to read the entire book but finally gave up. While he had some interesting information, he desperately needed a good editor. I would be interested in reading a revision of this book, as well as the other two volumes, that was more organized and less wordy.

I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Overall, the account was enjoyable. I found the scope of the book extensive and the coverage somewhat inconsistent; partially this is due to the real constraints of not spending enough time in a locale, as well as author's take on his experiences. The author relates personal accounts of his experiences as well as researched information. While some of the information is useful, the book can benefit from being pared down, which I hope the author takes into consideration, for subsequent volumes.½

I was excited to win this book since I had won and greatly enjoyed Volume 1. And Volume 2 did not disappoint. For those who haven't read the previous volume, this book is organized into chapters by country. The author describes his experiences there and usually provides some basic information about the country's history. for some countries, the author only had a brief chapter because his stay was confined to the airport for a layover. Other chapters were lengthy due to his being assigned there long-term.

If you're looking for a scholarly work about life in Africa post-colonialism, this book probably isn't for you. It also isn't a travel guide. But if, like me, you just want to learn more about the often overlooked continent, then this book is for you. It interesting and entertaining, but also informative, all without putting you to sleep.

This book was a struggle to read. Although interesting, its dialog is from one man’s anecdotal experiences and includes little global reference. Non-described initials were frequently used to refer to non-government agencies causing reading delays while I took time to look them up. Being prohibited from doing so, the author, Mark Wentling, never left the one country’s capital airport. Wentling’s opinions about that country were formed based on one conversation with an airport worker.

Some books just flow. So much so that I’ve completed a 500-page book and wished the story hadn’t ended. Book two of ‘Africa Memoir: 50 Years, 54 Countries, One American Life’ was not one of those. At half that length, it took me over two weeks to read as I just couldn’t motivate myself to repeatedly pick it up. Now that it’s finished, I can write my review and move on to something better.

I was lucky to get volume two because I had reviewed volume one:

I go to Library Thing to broaden my horizons and read about things I would not find otherwise. In that regard, this book did not disappoint. What is the best about this book? It was written by a person who actually lived in or visited each of the countries. What better view point than from Wentling? As a peace corps volunteer, he has seen it all, and give a personal account of each country. These countries are listed in the most judicious way possible: by alphabet. Yet it was surprising, after learning of the poverty and corruption in many of the countries [really, what I was expecting, and hoping to learn an unbiased, first hand, objective account about], it was quite an eye opener to see some of the worst toward the Ks and Ls toward the end of this volume. I so loved this book because of its educational value, but have to "take a break" before moving on to volume 2 or 3.

Volume two:

I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I was selected as a winner for the volume two. Yeah, sure, I could have simply BOUGHT volume two, but I feel honored to be selected. Wentling does an equally impressive job with this volume. The chapter on Niger was way more than one could take [I had to take many breaks between the mind numbing details in this chapter]. Most chapters are fun to read brief synopses that are informative. The Niger chapter was very heavy. Enjoyed the book, and very grateful to have received it. Will definitely look forward to volume three!!!!

The strength of this memoir lies in its breadth, not its depth or skilled writing. It is a jumble of memories about various countries he visited, some for work and some for pleasure. The chapters vary greatly in length depending on how much experience he has with that particular country (or if he had a particularly memorable trip, I suppose). He's very up front about the fact that he only spent a day or even a few hours in some countries, and he doesn't feign expertise about them. Most entries include very brief historical tidbits and some cultural insights.

Some of the weaker aspects include the uneven style. Also, this is the second volume, and because it apparently assumes that you've read the first volume or are familiar with the author, it starts abruptly with no introduction to who the author is or why he's writing this. He is an American who lived and worked in Africa for several decades and made it a goal to visit as many African countries as possible.

One strange aspect is that the author continually brings up how you might have to pay money to visit some countries or that he didn't have to pay. His travel was paid for because it was for work (the US Dept. of State, it would seem), but it almost feels like he's bragging all the time about how he saw Africa for free. It just a weird vibe to add to a memoir. If it wasn't his intent to brag, it's difficult to see what the point of including this tidbit so often could be. Surely he would realize that the vast majority of travelers do have to pay for their trips?

Overall, it's a nice overview of many different countries from the perspective of an older American. I really appreciated that it includes lesser-visited countries, such as São Tomé and Príncipe, and not just the "big" African countries (Nigeria, Morocco, etc.). I probably won't seek out the other volumes, but I consider the time I spent reading it time well spent.

I received this book as a free download through the Early Reviewer's page. Perhaps the fact that this was volume 2 of a three volume work explains why I didn't like it, but I don't think so. There was no narrative thread at all. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by country. Volume 2 has no explanation of who the author is, what brought him to Africa or any purpose for the book. He simply begins describing his experience in each country, again, in alphabetical order, not chronological. The first two countries he visited for one hour (in the airport) and for one night. In write-ups of other countries his writing is just a random presentation of information about the countries and his, to me, inappropriate suggestions for how the rest of the world should interact with those countries. In one he suggests that they would be better off with a dictator given to torturing his political rivals. In another he suggested that discrimination of Africans with darker skin color was just part of the culture and shouldn't be argued against. I quit reading before the half way point.

Each country in this volume is a chapter full of history of the country, the people, how they live and their livelihood. I enjoyed the author’s style of writing and his personal tidbits. It would be nice to list at the beginning of the book the abbreviations used, such as SSA.½

A Peace Corps Volunteer writes about his experiences in many countries in Africa. He also gives a brief history of the countries as well as current information and statistics without bogging the book down with unnecessary information. I enjoyed learning about the countries and how they gained their independence, how the people survive, as well as current threat levels. Very interesting book.

Good information, but it's obvious he isn't a skilled writer. This makes it more difficult to absorb the fascinating information he attempts to present. As a writer myself, I admit I tend to be more critical of the writing of others. However, I believe his reluctance to create a more concise text through being ruthless with how many words he used, and how he used them, makes the book less enjoyable to read. Which is why I gave him 3 out of 5 stars. There are free AI editors available online that would have immediately helped him with his final draft prior to publication. However, I did learn things about the continent I was not previously aware of.

I picked this book because my knowledge of Africa is woefully limited, and I hoped to gain some insight into this vast continent. Mr. Wentling did not disappoint. For each country, there was a mix of personal accounts, brief histories, and current political and economic information. It's organized alphabetically, and this is the first of three volumes.

For me, there are two main criteria for deciding if a non-fiction book is good: 1) did it feel like reading a drab textbook? and 2) did I learn any information and retain it? This book does not feel like a textbook at all. The pages flew by, and I was surprised to find myself at the end so quickly. I have also already taken information I learned in this book and applied it to news articles I've read.

So yes, this is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it. I will definitely be reading volumes 2 and 3 in the future.

I received a free ebook copy of this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's program.

I appreciated the opportunity to read about 27 countries in Africa from a single perspective. The author has "visited" all 54 countries of Africa, though some visits lasted years while others were hours and merely stepping over a border. I was interested in hearing about the cultures of each country, but there is less of that and more discussion about each country's GDP, their troubled recent histories and political issues, and what the author sees as their obstacles to becoming more developed. That is interesting, but not really what I want to learn about the countries. I found it surprising that while the author continues to emphasize he feels more at home in Africa than he does in America he continually lamented the lack of development and creature comforts that are part of American life. I would have liked to hear more about what he loves about Africa, rather than the areas where he wants to see change. Initially I figured I would read the second volume, but I think I know what to expect from it.

I got this as an ebook from LibraryThing. Now I am trying to buy the 2nd volume published in October 2020 and can't find it. Frustrating.
I found this book fascinating as Mr. Wentling describes his impressions of the African nations he either lived in, spent a lot of time in, or just passed through and observed second hand. He leaves a good argument to why the different countries are in chaos and thus sometimes a sad and depressing read but I think a good book to learn a little more about each country.

I go to Library Thing to broaden my horizons and read about things I would not find otherwise. In that regard, this book did not disappoint. What is the best about this book? It was written by a person who actually lived in or visited each of the countries. What better view point than from Wentling? As a peace corps volunteer, he has seen it all, and give a personal account of each country. These countries are listed in the most judicious way possible: by alphabet. Yet it was surprising, after learning of the poverty and corruption in many of the countries [really, what I was expecting, and hoping to learn an unbiased, first hand, objective account about], it was quite an eye opener to see some of the worst toward the Ks and Ls toward the end of this volume. I so loved this book because of its educational value, but have to "take a break" before moving on to volume 2 or 3.

I was so interested in getting this book! My now husband and I had recently (pre covid) been in Kenya and Ethiopia and LOVED our time in Kenya. This book goes over all countries, but there is a historical bias to what Wentling writes, as it was in the 70s, 80s, and 90s he was there. It’s not a bad thing but like the entry on Kenya was not no where near representative on 2020 Africa. I appreciate this book - it’s a truthful, sometimes brutally truthful - look at countries that most people overlook.
Disclosure- I did like this book so much that I purchased the physical copy of all three parts, so it was good enough to spend $60 on something I got for free.½