What separates this book from most travel writing is that Shaffer unwittingly exposes the real breakdown of intl development. I don't know that Shaffer understands that her experience is not really hers; it is the entire story of development projects in developing nations. Were there a section on critical analysis of international humanitarian projects, this would be the companion book to the text. Hers is a story that should be heard and understood when creating assumptions about problems and s More...

If you've seen my bookshelves you would know I'm a fan of memoirs - my favorites are either those who have experiences war, usually WWII, or women travelers. Don't bother trying to analyze that one.

Shaffer's memoir seemed very familiar. If you've ever read Incognito Street: How Travel Made Me a Writer, Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone, or even Eat, Pray, Love (even though I mostly detest that book) you'll see the similarities. The driving force in these stories was a man ba More...

Somebody's Heart Is Burning is the memoir of a white American woman who spent a year in Africa, fleeing confusion over a relationship. ("It's my life, and if I want to run from it, I can," she asserts from the first page.) She begins as a work-camp volunteer in Ghana, and then visits Mali and East Africa as a tourist. I went into this book assuming I'd hate the narrator - given her circumstances for traveling, I figured she'd have a bit of an ego and would spend too much time implying that she i More...

I stated this book two years ago and put it down one day only to pick it back up today. I was supposed to finish it today. Someone's heart is burning- are not all of our hearts a fire in one way or another???? There was a moment in the book where she says "How could I explain my strange life to him? How could I tell yet another person here with everything that had been given to me, I was still restless and unsatisfied? That I felt driven to wander the earth in search of some elusive key that wou More...

This book has an excellent structure, each chapter a different story about a different place, people/person or experience. This is the first memoir that I have come across that included photographs. When I read memoirs I tend to idealize a little and the photographs kept me grounded in the reality of the story in a way I haven't experienced before. I wish more memoirs had pictures! I thought that Tanya Shaffer did an amazing job writing about her experiences volunteering in Ghana and west Africa More...

The first paragraph (something about going to Africa to escape a boyfriend) led me to expect 300-pages of navel gazing. Happily, that wasn't the case (for the most part). This collection of short stories, fluidly told, follows a loose chronological order. At its best, we follow her unique experiences with Africans from all walks of life (rich, poor, urban, rural). She conveys their stories with a sharp, lively voice and makes some meaningful insights (with some clichés tossed in here and there). More...

Title: Somebody's Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa
Author: Tanya Shaffer
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2003
332 pages

I enjoyed this memoir of travel in Africa much more than I initially thought I would. I was worried that Shaffer was going to complain about her emotional conflicts about her boyfriend the whole time. While this is as noble a topic as any, it wasn't what I hope for in a travelogue. Though the boyfriend is a recurring theme, he serves less as an object of rumination (though I'm More...

A lovely, lyrical little book that accurately spills the gut-wrenching moments travel can create. Shaffer describes the lives of African travelers and African natives without complaint, without dramatizing the conditions and with an almost loving reverie for the involuntary reverie of their lifestyles. Sadly, the author's note at the end points out that her trip, taken in the early 90s, was pre-AIDS epidemic. She hints that now she would find a very different scene before her.

I wasn't sure I would enjoy this book. I was afraid the writer would be a whiner.. Whenever someone escapes the continent to volunteer I'm suspect! But this woman has a good heart and shared stories about the people she met in Africa with warmth and respect. She learned some important life lessons that I learned from, too.

This is a book about a woman who decides to explore West Africa after she runs away from love. It tells of her various friendships with other travellers and Africans, gives a bit of color about whites who decide to go work in Africa and talks about what she sees and experiences as she travels throughout the region.

A somewhat boringly self-centered book about a woman's travels in Africa. Not that writing about one's travels isn't usually self-centered. More that the author was immature and the voice she used was a bit irritating.

fun read about travels through western coast of africa and interesting local women and other travelers that she meets along the way. Story is more like reading out of her diary and not complete.

The author has some interesting encounters while travelling in Africa and describes them well. Unfortunately, she also describes her own relationship issues in more detail than I needed to hear.

Tanya Shaffer is a lot like the me with issues. It was nice to see it from an outside perspective and get a well written good story about a place I long to go in the process.

not south africa, rather west (Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, then east to Indian ocean, but...) series of short vignettes of author's experiences slumming it and also working and helping and making many friends, some enemies, and lots of acquaintances in her peregrinations in africa. though she tries to synthesize west meets east, and international devel meets underdeveled that part falls short. the good parts are her bravery at meeting and trying to get to know regular folks, her willingness to da More...

I'm a sucker for travel memoirs, and this one didn't disappoint. Her experiences during her one year stay in Africa were fascinating and beautifully told.

Volunteer for a year in West Africa -- Very good. Evokes Africa.

The woman in this book has a wanderlust like none I've ever seen. She does lot of things that I would be afraid to do, like her crazy boat trip to Timbuktu. In some ways she is frustrating becasue she runs away from life to travel whenever things get difficult. But the book mostly concentrates on her travels, not why she left for them. Entertaining and interesting and gives a very balanced view of the countries in Africa that she visits, and touches on her struggles in seeing so much poverty aro More...

I picked up this book while I was in Mexico and was hooked from the very first sentence. I liked the author's voice and could related to her on so many levels. Emotionally, historically and geographically. I only wish I'd had a book to leave at the "give one, take one" library where I found it, because I would have loved to take it with me.

This book paints a vivid picture of traveling in Western Africa without romanticizing or vilifying its people and culture. However, the book felt a little self-indulgent at times. Still recommended for anyone who enjoys the travel genre or wants to learn more about Africa.

This book is for all the girls who love to wander around alone and see what they'll find in the big wide world. She does a great job of balancing the romantic nature of travel and the reality of what you can find and what you leave behind.

Reading this while in Ghana was a fabulous experience. It really encouraged me to make a difference while I was there, and reminded me of how important it was to volunteer, and to remember.

The author might mean well. She wants to show us how a trip to Africa changed her. But she seems so unaware and self-absorbed from the outset that it's not very convincing.

Just what I would expect Gillian to recommend. ;-) Book about all of us who are always looking for something more and aren't sure why.

I have a weakness for travel books about Africa and really enjoyed this one.