Somebody's Heart Is Burning : A Woman Wanderer in Africa

Rating:
Summary: A Journey you won't forget
Review: This book was really excellent. After reading her book, I feel like I know Tanya. Her writing is very accessible. I learned a lot about Africa that I didn't know. I don't have the guts to travel through Africa like her, but after reading her book, I feel like I have done it. Pick it up, you'll love it!

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating journey
Review: A friend gave me this book and I was completely entranced by it. Shaffer?s
voice is so fresh, so wry, so funny and candid that she won me over
instantly! Her African adventures, first as a volunteer and then as a solo
traveler, bring her into contact with Africans and foreigners from all walks
of life. The depth of her connection to these individuals, and the way she
captures the complex personal dynamics that arise between people of
different cultural and economic backgrounds really sets this apart from
other travel narratives I have read. Each person she met became so real to
me that I found myself missing them when I put down the book. She is also
a great storyteller: her narrative is filled with suspense and surprises that
kept me turning the pages, eager to learn what happened next. Underneath
all that was her ongoing struggle about what it means to be a person from
the "developed" world traveling in the "developing" world. I laughed, I was
moved, I questioned, and I learned a lot about Africa in the process. A
great read!

Rating:
Summary: You won't put the book down unsinged.
Review: Any traveler, male or female, who loves Africa in all its glory and horror, should read this book. Poignant, funny, wise, with a good background riff on the meaning of love and relationships back home while your heart is in flames abroad.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVED this book!
Review: I had so much fun reading this book! As a traveler, I related so much to all the different pieces of it. I laughed so hard, and I also found that it had a surprising emotional impact that lasted long after I put it down. I couldn't stop thinking about the characters-- I felt like I knew the Africans, the volunteers, and the narrator herself, in all their glorious confused humanness! What a great journey.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing tale of a modern explorer
Review: I received this book as a gift and really didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. The author has created a package of stories that unfold in curious ways, each revealing a little more about herself and the people she encounters. Shaffer's vivid imagery left me a lot to think about...I've already lent it to a friend so we can discuss. My only criticism would be that I wanted it to continue. I don't know where Ms. Shaffer is now, but I hope she's writing!

Rating:
Summary: I LOVED this book!
Review: Move over, V. S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux; there's a new kid on the block, but with a decided feminist slant. Tanya Shaffer's African odyssey, adds an affecting intimacy to the account of the people, places, and things chronicled in the usual travel book. Her role as a volunteer in the construction of schools and hospitals in small communities of Ghana, living in the homes of local families and sharing their lives, and her wanderings by the most plebeian public conveyances - overcrowded buses and canoes - are the settings for heartwarming encounters with individuals whose lives we come to share. Ms. Shaffer's staunch respect for cultural differences does not silence her from voicing her objections to men who follow sexist tribal customs.that demean their wives and impede the modernization of Africa.. Her narrative sets a brisk pace that holds and delights the reader through a charming picaresque tale of the personal growth of a young woman.

Rating:
Summary: Looking into the heart of Africa
Review: Move over, V. S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux; there's a new kid on the block, but with a decided feminist slant. Tanya Shaffer's African odyssey, adds an affecting intimacy to the account of the people, places, and things chronicled in the usual travel book. Her role as a volunteer in the construction of schools and hospitals in small communities of Ghana, living in the homes of local families and sharing their lives, and her wanderings by the most plebeian public conveyances - overcrowded buses and canoes - are the settings for heartwarming encounters with individuals whose lives we come to share. Ms. Shaffer's staunch respect for cultural differences does not silence her from voicing her objections to men who follow sexist tribal customs.that demean their wives and impede the modernization of Africa.. Her narrative sets a brisk pace that holds and delights the reader through a charming picaresque tale of the personal growth of a young woman.

Rating:
Summary: Somebody's Heart Is Burning
Review: Such a great adventure! I felt like I went on the trip when I was done....and had a good time!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Tanya has a writing style that provides a wonderful picture of her experiences. Without reaching the conclusions for you, she clearly shows the lessons she learned in her travels in Africa. I got a real feeling for the people and situations she describes, that sound so real and strange at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Tanya has a writing style that provides a wonderful picture of her experiences. Without reaching the conclusions for you, she clearly shows the lessons she learned in her travels in Africa. I got a real feeling for the people and situations she describes, that sound so real and strange at the same time.