Reviews: Finding Myself in Borneo (Memoir) by Neill McKee

★★★★★ Barnes & Noble review “Neill McKee takes us on an extraordinary journey to Borneo and other parts of Asia.... He shares with us the perplexing, frustrating, humorous, and personally rewarding experiences of a young man adventuring out from the childhood home in rural Ontario to discover a world thousands of miles away.” ★★★★★ Amazon Review “A delightful book. Neill McKee mixes his memories of teaching in Sabah in the late 60’s with historical, geographical and political anecdotes about the area.… His love for Sabah and its very diverse population shines through in his writing. Returning years later he meets with a number of his students and confirms that, indeed, his years of teaching in Kota Belud made a difference. I look forward to reading about the next adventures in his extraordinary career.” “Neill McKee’s work takes us on a true adventure. His keen observations of North Borneo re-imagine a time and place via a unique journey. McKee’s writing stirs the imagination and simultaneously explains a place less traveled. His eye and ear forstartling detail and understanding of political dimensions make this work a fascinating and eye-opening read.” —Diane Thiel, author and professor, University of New Mexico: dianethiel.net “I love it. It has so many qualities that the usual memoir lacks. Neill McKee is honest about himself, not in any way self-absorbed, but he shares his opinions with attractive openness. McKee is lyrical about the countryside and I felt I was with him as he enjoyed the humorous side of life and the characters in the cramped town of Kota Belud. Nothing drags with different scenes in the short chapters in this book. It is a refreshing journey around a fascinating slice of Borneo with the best of guides.” —Clyde Sanger, author and journalist, Ottawa, Canada “Tracing his time as a Canadian CUSO volunteer teaching in a remote North Borneo village in the late 1960s, Neill McKee exhibits the quality every good story-teller must have to charm readers or listeners: an intense desire to share what he knows.Detailed descriptions provide authenticity that grounds the memoir in a specific reality. As he reminisces about his sojourns in Sabah, he includes the hilarious creation of the North Borneo Frodo Society, which continues in a gentle nostalgic form even today. It is a present reminder that those years he spent in Sabah,Malaysia, changed his life forever.” —Isabel Huggan, Canadian/international writer of fiction ,essays, and poetry: isabelhuggan.com “McKee’s work proves the notion that every journey is undertaken at least as much through the inner world as it is through the outer. From the vast open spaces of Canada tothe jungles of Borneo, and from youth through the straits of teaching, traveling, and growing, McKee takes us on a Motorcycle Diaries-type journey, as written by a man who would become a filmmaker, an expert in international development, and a father. The world that we follow McKee through, almost like ghosts floating over his shoulder, is one of true friends and near misses, one that is familiar and foreign in equal parts. If McKee’s first journey was to Borneo, and his second into his own unknown future, we get to take his third journey with him, back into the land of what-was. Finding Myself in Borneo is a beautifulbook about a brilliant life—a rare read.” —Michael Buckley, short story writer: mikebuckleyauthor.com “This book is a highly readable flashback to the life of a foreign volunteer teacher in Sabah during the 1960s and 1970s—a time when big changes were just starting to sweep across a land full of eager communities and unspoiled tropical forest. . . . In the closing chapters, McKee makes bittersweet visits back to Sabah. As a filmmaker, he surveys the land by helicopter to find much of what he remembered has gone—vast stretches of forest felled by political and economic forces. Travelers will find this book afascinating read. McKee’s succinct wit offers first-time visitors to Borneo vivid historical bearings to frame their present-day experiences as they travel through this land, still full of many attractions. Malaysians and Sabahans will discover, in McKee’sobservations, issues to debate on rainy afternoons.” —S. Y. Chin, Asia-based editor “Finding Myself in Borneo brought back so many warm memories of our own experiences in the US Peace Corps in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Although we were posted to Liberia, West Africa, McKee’s stories induced a lot of discussion about our generation and its ideals. McKee’s insights into living in another culture are entertaining, perceptive and informative. We want to read moreabout his life experiences and are already looking forward to his next book.” —James and Vivian Bowman, returned Peace Corps volunteers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA “Neill McKee joins a rare band who dare to write about what they brought to volunteering and, realized later in life, what they received, learned and cherish. The book takes us to the roots of his career when he was a secondary school teacher in Sabah, where he became a filmmaker and then a specialist in media and mobilization for positive social change. That McKee was able to return to Sabah a number of times after his volunteer years, offers the opportunity to match the anecdotes to what in fact happened to the people who touched his life, and he theirs. That is an opportunity and courage I envy.” —Christopher Smart, returned CUSO volunteer, Ottawa, Canada “Neill McKee captures the spirit of Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia. As I read, I was transported to the immaculate greens, the deepened shadows of mountains silhouetted against the hot, sapphire skies; the hullabaloo that constituted the heart of the vibrant Asian culture in the era he lived in North Borneo. I felt I was riding with him on his motorbike as the enthralling splendor of the place unfolded. It’s an enchanting narrative and I couldn’tstop until I had consumed the entire book!” —Nuzhat Shahzadi, writer, Fairfax, Virginia, USA