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The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa
by
Josh Swiller
A young man's quest to reconcile his deafness in an unforgiving world leads to a remarkable sojourn in a remote African village that pulsates with beauty and violence
These are hearing aids. They take the sounds of the world and amplify them." Josh Swiller recited this speech to himself on the day he arrived in Mununga, a dusty village on the shores of Lake Mweru. Deaf sin...more
These are hearing aids. They take the sounds of the world and amplify them." Josh Swiller recited this speech to himself on the day he arrived in Mununga, a dusty village on the shores of Lake Mweru. Deaf sin...more
ebook, 288 pages
Published
September 4th 2007
by Holt Paperbacks
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Oct 14, 2008
Heather
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
peace-corps,
non-fiction
What a powerful story. Josh Swiller relates his experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia in the early 1990s, but he also happens to be deaf. I didn't know what to expect when I opened this book...but what I got was exceptional. Though our Peace Corps experiences have little in common - it is definitely hard to draw parallels between Swiller's African village life and mine in urban Eastern Europe - he really gets at the root of the volunteer experience. That no matter who you are, or who y...more
Dec 04, 2007
Jenny
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who like easy-reads on complex subject matter
Recommended to Jenny by:
Josh Swiller
Shelves:
fastreads
I saw Josh talk at the Manhattan League of Hard of Hearing, while the somewhat anti-deaf environment bothered me (there was a lady who complained about a deaf girl signing during the Q & A... boooo) something about Josh Swiller's personality, and his unwillingness to relate to me when I emailed him subsequently made me read his book.
Josh is a talented writer. His chronicle of his Peace Corps experience is told in an honest, open, sometimes humorous tone, and his anecdotes of his upbringing m...more
Josh is a talented writer. His chronicle of his Peace Corps experience is told in an honest, open, sometimes humorous tone, and his anecdotes of his upbringing m...more
This book blew my mind and I can't say enough how everyone should read it, even though (or perhaps BECAUSE) parts of it are totally infuriating. I had perhaps the strongest reaction to this book as to any other I've ever read.
It is told in the first-person voice of Josh Swiller, a deaf Peace Corps volunteer who worked in rural Zambia in the early '90s. Due to the violent reputation of the village (Mununga) where he was stationed (he was the first PC worker to be placed there, and Administration...more
It is told in the first-person voice of Josh Swiller, a deaf Peace Corps volunteer who worked in rural Zambia in the early '90s. Due to the violent reputation of the village (Mununga) where he was stationed (he was the first PC worker to be placed there, and Administration...more
3 likes · like · see review
view all 12 comments
Zambia. A problematic but potentially useful memoir. Swiller recounts his time in Zambia, where as a Peace Corps volunteer he appears to have violated ethical principles, flouted standards of cultural sensitivity and appropriateness, and generally been a cowboy. That Swiller is deaf raises interesting questions about intersections of disability, identity, and behavior issues. I say that the book is "useful" because I may teach with it in a service-related ethics class.
“ The Unheard, a memoir of deafness and Africa” by Josh Swiller. He is funny, poetic in his detail about Mununga, a dusty village on the shores of Lake Mweru. There is lust, frustration, violence, love, and friendship and celebration of the preciousness of life as the hero escapes death from worms, malaria,blown tires in the middle of hyenas, lions, and bus crashing over a bridge where the youngster he traded places with(the wheel seat cramped his legs) was killed. He realized love, the great f...more
Deaf since childhood, Josh Swiller struggled to live in a hearing world. Having learned to lip read and with the help of hearing aids, he could get by. But not feeling truly a part of either the hearing or deaf communities, he took an opportunity to travel to Zambia and serve with the Peace Corps in a rural village in the north near the DRC border. Josh was among the first group of volunteers placed in Zambia, and the first in this particular village which had a reputation for violence. The boo...more
This memoir was recommended to me by a new colleague; I recently started working with the organization where Josh first got his hearing aids.
The back cover and the book's first sentence worried me that I was in for one long eye-roll. Instead, it was one of the most beautiful modern stories I've found.
Swiller isn't a perfect writer (yet), but given the events he retells, his book could have had many more strained passages and clumsy cliches than it did. For the two days I was in the midst of Unhe...more
The back cover and the book's first sentence worried me that I was in for one long eye-roll. Instead, it was one of the most beautiful modern stories I've found.
Swiller isn't a perfect writer (yet), but given the events he retells, his book could have had many more strained passages and clumsy cliches than it did. For the two days I was in the midst of Unhe...more
I had gotten this book last year as a loan from my friend, Roz Reisner. It sat beside my bed for a long time and I thought it would be an interesting book to read on the plane down to the Caymans. It turned out to be so much more than just interesting. I've never been one for memoirs but now I'm hooked! This book is well-written and offers a surprising take on why Josh loved Africa so much - it was a place where being deaf didn't matter so much! His adventures there and the problems he encounter...more
Interesting memoir of a Peace Corps assignment in Africa. The author is deaf, and it was startling to me how little difference that made in the Peace Corps experience (comparing it to my own expererience as a PCV, and also by the author's own description). He really captures the feeling of being a stranger and how important it is to be accepted and befriended by the locals. But I couldn't believe he didn't contact the PC office for a change of placement after a violent event that happened in his...more
I heard Swiller read an excerpt of his memoir on NPR, and being partially deaf, as is Swiller, I became interested in the story line of his experience in Mununga, Africa. I was also curious about using this book for my Freshman Composition class. While the book revealed a lot to me about African politics and Peace Corps work, it wasn't literate enough for me to use for class. The plot line was riveting, and Swiller has a strong journalistic style, but I wasn't drawn into his prose -- it read too...more
The last line left me crying myself to sleep, " But feel the rain on your face." Josh Swiller was born partially deaf and lost more hearing as a young child, and although he could lip read and wore hearing aids, he always felt like an outsider, the deaf person, until he went to Zambia as a Peace Corps volunteer. There, living without running water or electricity, he no longer felt deaf...he faced unbelievable problems, but for once, being deaf wasn't one of them. Amazing story, friendship, hope,...more
I've picked up this book intending to read it all the way through several times and this is the first time I'm making it past the 3rd chapter. I recommended it to the ASL teacher for our deaf students in the High School where I teach. The students all read the book without any complaints (a first!) Many said they enjoyed it, although they felt it was kind of "long". Josh's writing style is sometimes poignant and at other times drags on or feels forced--perhaps this is what I struggle with. I lov...more
I read this for my book club. It's a memoir in a sea of memoirs, and there is not a whole lot that makes it stand out. The author is deaf and relies on hearing aids, lip reading, and years of speech therapy to communicate with others. The book tells the story of the author's Peace Corps trip to Zambia in the mid-nineties. He was one of the first group to go to Zambia, and, as a result, the support Josh receives is very limited. He is placed in a rather dangerous area of the country and struggles...more
1 like · like · see review
Jun 10, 2008
Alana
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Alana by:
Hilarie
With all due respect to my book club's selector this month, I must admit, I wasn't gung-ho about this book when I agreed to it. When I went to purchase it, I even hoped that the little bookstore in my neighborhood wouldn't have it so I could buy myself an Agatha Christie novel for that weekend instead. But it was there and so I bought it... and I quickly realized that I had underestimated this book and the author. Josh Swiller did a great job with this. It wasn't necessarily the events in his st...more
I originally was introduced to this book after a NPR story on Weekend Edition, I believe. Although the NPR story talked mostly about he and his brother and cousin receiving cochlear implants (that in itself is amazing enough) the way that Josh Swiller read a selection from his book is what mostly drew me to read his work. You could tell in his tone and tamber that the two years he spent in the Peace Corps in Zambia were what shaped his life. All along he thought it would be the deafness that det...more
Nov 08, 2007
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who like memoirs
I really loved this book, despite my mixed feelings about the Peace Corps and its penultimate goals, but Josh Swiller tells a really wonderful, humanizing tale and is able to approach his experience with humility.
Basically, in the early 1990s, Swiller, who is deaf, has just graduated Yale and is one of those typical idealistic privileged kids who decides to go to Africa. He joins the Peace Corps and after a few weeks teaching the forgotten deaf kids in a Zambian school in the city, is shipped of...more
Basically, in the early 1990s, Swiller, who is deaf, has just graduated Yale and is one of those typical idealistic privileged kids who decides to go to Africa. He joins the Peace Corps and after a few weeks teaching the forgotten deaf kids in a Zambian school in the city, is shipped of...more
This was a really great book. I have had it for about 2 years and never really felt like picking it up. I am very glad that I did though! It is about a deaf American who joins the peace corps and is stationed in a village in Zambia in order to teach the people to dig wells. Not much digging goes on, but the story of how he spends his 2 years there is fascinating. A very revealing story about African culture today.
Very interesting book about a Peace Corps volunteer in remote Zambia. He grew up deaf with hearing aids but he is so unusual in his village that they don't even notice his deafness. He becomes friends with the man who runs the clinic and the book is a chornicle of their adventures in the political system of the village. Engrossing and covers many interesting topics.
Because he came to Zambia after I had been in Zimbabwe only a few months, I remember hearing about Zambian volunteers coming to Harare and getting jumped- which he describes vaguely in the book. I can relate to his frustration with the misappropriation of funds for the clinic by the "evil" Boniface as I ran into that during my Crisis Corps assignment in South Africa. When we're there to help, how can the locals steal from their own people for just the benefit of one. I still get angry about it....more
Deaf dude lives in Zambia trying to build wells -- or do anything useful -- during his Peace Corps duty. He finds his deafness to be much less an issue in Africa, where there is less background noise, people speak more slowly and give you more eye contact. I liked the book.
A candid and self-aware recounting of the author's time with the Peace COrps in Zambia, and his consideration of the cultural significance of his deafness and the ways in which he does and does not deal with expectations about it, and of the U.S. versus Africa.
Mar 01, 2009
Mary
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
already-read-non-fiction
This is fascinating story of how the author learned to live and function with his deafness from early childhood. It is amazing that he was able to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in an African village--he lip-read, gestured, and actually was able to hear a little bit with very clear speakers.
His PC experience was sad, however--he had one wonderful friend and associate, but the village was "ruled" by a tyrannical egomaniac of a chief, and Josh and his friend were endangered, as their projects fa...more
His PC experience was sad, however--he had one wonderful friend and associate, but the village was "ruled" by a tyrannical egomaniac of a chief, and Josh and his friend were endangered, as their projects fa...more
This is a really wonderful book! It's the true story of a deaf man who goes to Africa through the Peace corps. It's an amazing and very enlightening story about living in Africa. Veyr interesting read and I highly reccommend!
Loved this book. 20-something deaf young man joins Peace Corps in 1994 to get away
from deaf experience in U.S. Barely makes it out of Zambia alive. Funny, sad, a testament
to friendship. Wonderful, consistent tone.
from deaf experience in U.S. Barely makes it out of Zambia alive. Funny, sad, a testament
to friendship. Wonderful, consistent tone.
Nov 26, 2012
Meg
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
possible-uk-honors-cre-options
Honestly, I was surprised. This was probably one of the most interesting memoirs I've read that doesn't aspire to fit or exploit a genre. The sincerity and genuine writing/memory here makes this completely refreshing. It's not a third world memoir, it's not a disability memoir, it's just a snapshot of an important time in the author's life that touches - in a completely natural way - some really important issues/ideas.
I didn't like the author. I found him irritating but he has a neat story. Sorry man, I don't think you should be able to turn off your hearing aids when you don't want to pay attention to anyone else.
I really enjoyed this book. It bounces back and forth between Josh's experience in the Peace Corps in Africa and growing up as a deaf child. It will be required summer reading for my students this year.
Definitely a good read if you are considering to volunteer in Africa or anywhere in the developing world. He speaks from a unique perspective and is unafraid to point out some of his own flaws.
A wonderful new book! Josh Swiller, the author, was among the first Peace Corps volunteers to be placed in Zambia in the mid-1990's. Josh's story as a volunteer goes beyond the norm, however, as he is deaf. The time Josh spends in his Zambian village not only brings him some great friendships and really unbelievable (frightening) experiences, but allows him a chance to live, for a change, in a place where his deafness is of reduced importance - something he had desired his entire life prior. Nat...more
An amazing (true) story of two worlds that are very difficult for many of us to understand...deafness and Africa. As an audiologist it was moving reading about his experience as a deaf person in a hearing world, something I have learned about many, many times, but he writes about it with a no holds barred approach so we are able to see how it has affected every aspect of his life, both good and bad. And his experiences in Africa were also very eye opening, giving me a great understanding of his...more
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