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    <name><![CDATA[Steven]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Lafayette, CO]]></location>        
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      <rating>4</rating>
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  <date_added>Fri Jun 06 15:43:55 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jun 06 15:51:58 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[This is strong collection of short fiction that--full disclosure--won the Bakeless Prize for fiction the year before my first book did. Chilson draws upon his experiences in Africa (Peace Corps, journalism) to give vivid portraits of the interaction between western and African culture. While occasionally the voices seem to drop into a very non-fictional mode (i.e., when Chilson wants to give us background information) the sentences throughout reflect the tension of the entire book. Some of my favorite stories were not those that took place in Africa but those of Africans in the US, like&quot;American Food&quot; and especially &quot;Toumani Ogun.&quot; A strong contribution to the literature of the western/African cusp, along the lines of Norman Rush's <em>Whites</em>.]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23887507]]></url>
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