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The Rainy Season
by
In the tradition of Joan Didion and Paul Theroux, this highly acclaimed writer/reporter offers a vivid portrait of today's Haiti--where during the day the streets are filled with bustling markets while at night they are filled with gunfire.
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
June 1st 1990
by Simon & Schuster (NYC)
(first published 1989)
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With this sort of sociological book about a place with an interesting history, people and events, the author does a lot of research, both from media and in the field, and carefully looks at the facts and sees the bigger picture and that helps formulate what kind of book they are going to write. Each chapter then will be devoted to a certain aspect and sources, whether people, direct observation or media will be used to illustrate the author's point of view.
However, some authors have an agenda ...more
However, some authors have an agenda ...more
Jul 21, 2009
Purple Iris
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history-politics,
memoirs
I randomly came across this in my aunt's library today, so I figured I'd skim through it and see what all the fuss was about. I'm not impressed so far, but I've only just begun. This could turn out to be an interesting portrait of foreign journalists in Haiti...
A couple of weeks later:
I finally decided on a rating. It was tough. This book is a good read in that it definitely kept me interested and has lots of behind the scenes info about the Haitian political scene. But so much of it annoyed me ...more
A couple of weeks later:
I finally decided on a rating. It was tough. This book is a good read in that it definitely kept me interested and has lots of behind the scenes info about the Haitian political scene. But so much of it annoyed me ...more
Jul 20, 2010
Erik Graff
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Americans
Recommended to Erik by:
Erik Badger
Shelves:
history
Some years after graduating from Shimer College my youngest stepbrother, Erik Badger, got hired for an education project in Haiti on the recommendation of his undergraduate mentor. Knowing no Creole and facing the prospect of working primarily with the rural poor, his job began with months of total immersion, alone in a small village where no one spoke English. It worked and he went to work.
During most of the period Willentz writes about the official language of Haiti was French; the ruling ...more
During most of the period Willentz writes about the official language of Haiti was French; the ruling ...more
Excellent reportage from Haiti in the late 1980s--- from the fall of Baby Doc Duvalier through the failure of elections and military rule into the beginning of the '90s. Wilentz was close to the young Aristide before his two doomed presidencies, and her account of the young radical priest and his movement is fascinating, as is her account of the sheer mass of Haitian interests and foreign demands that crushed any hope of real reform when the Duvaliers fell. Fine writing and a good way of
...more
Well written book about Haiti after the fall of Baby Doc up until the rise of Duvalier. Modern vignettes are interspersed with historical perspectives on Haiti.
This book explores 3 important years in Haiti's history: 1987-89, when Duvalier left, military juntas seized control of the government, and Aristide started his rise to prominence.
Although the book was published before Aristide won the popular election in 1991 (and therefore misses the most important elements of Aristide's relationship with Haiti), it's still fascinating to read a before-he-was-famous account of such a significant and controversial figure. Wilentz's observations are often en ...more
Although the book was published before Aristide won the popular election in 1991 (and therefore misses the most important elements of Aristide's relationship with Haiti), it's still fascinating to read a before-he-was-famous account of such a significant and controversial figure. Wilentz's observations are often en ...more
Feb 28, 2013
Marc
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
haiti,
american-foreign-policy
A wonderful and very informative book on Haiti. Captivating through an alternation of description and evocation, with occasional analysis. A bit romanticizing and slightly idealistic, pro-Aristide.
Aristide is the main character, his story coincides with that of Haiti itself, he is the key to understand the country. Also notable: the very crucial and mostly negative impact of American policy.
Aristide is the main character, his story coincides with that of Haiti itself, he is the key to understand the country. Also notable: the very crucial and mostly negative impact of American policy.
Spans about 3 years in Haiti during the late 1980's. The time just before Baby Doc was overthrown, to just before Aristide's first presidency and all the turmoil in between. A fascinating glimpse at a short period in Haiti's history, with loads of references to Haiti's entire history. It introduces the first time Haiti reader to a swath of information such as Tonton Macoutes, Dechoukaj, houngans, zombis, loup-garou, vaudou, clairin, restaveks, and plan meriken. The characters making repeat
...more
I'm reading some books about Haiti in preparation for a choir trip there in January. Nonfiction books generally aren't my cup of tea -- I'm really more of a narrative reader -- but it wouldn't be right for me to visit a country without knowing more about it.
This book is written by a journalist who spent time in Haiti over a number of years. She includes a great deal of history of the country as well as her personal experiences there. Some of the history parts were rather dense and I had to stop ...more
This book is written by a journalist who spent time in Haiti over a number of years. She includes a great deal of history of the country as well as her personal experiences there. Some of the history parts were rather dense and I had to stop ...more
Very slow reading. From responses from other readers may go back to it when I have time to read for a long period of time.
Fabulous on-the-ground, well-written account of Haiti from the fall of Baby Doc through a few turbulent years after. Wilentz covers her story from the found up, as opposed to being focused on interviewing / following wealthy / powerful people. She respects Haitians and provides many wonderful accounts of real, intelligent, poor people struggling through adversity and fighting for change. I have followed the Haitian struggle for democracy and was well-aware of Aristide, but this book provides
...more
Amy Wilentz writes about Haiti 1978-89 like a latter-day Charles Dickens, with dozens of major and minor characters and an eye for the broad sweep of society and history all at once. Only she is also versed in novels by Haitian authors, previous histories of the nation, folk sayings, voudoun, and the bad boy behavior of American reporters. There is nothing quite like this book.
Readers who never supported Aristide or who cannot forgive the violence carried out by some of his supporters will fault ...more
Readers who never supported Aristide or who cannot forgive the violence carried out by some of his supporters will fault ...more
I really enjoyed Wilentz's account of Haiti back in the 80's. This book is very political in nature, since Wilentz was a journalist in Port-au-Prince for several years beginning after the fall of "Baby Doc" Duvalier. However she intersperses her work with stories of life and struggles in the countryside. Her work is wonderfully personalized with individual characters she has met, including a lot of interviews with a young Aristide. While not a complete history of the country, I thought it
...more
Wilentz's powers of perception and openness make this a must-read for anyone interested in Haiti, the post-colonial world, or journalism. But it's also a story about the effect of dystopia on a sensitive, first-world writer.
Apr 19, 2008
David Cerruti
rated it
it was amazing
Recommended to David by:
An American journalist in Haiti
The Rainy Season is being reissued next week by Simon & Schuster, with a new, post-earthquake introduction. For an understanding of the Haitian people, this book is excellent. A joy to read.
A good and interesting read that is a journalistic acount of Wilentz's travels in Haiti in the late 1980s. It's a little long-winded, but I pretty much knew nothing of Haiti's history going into the book, and this definitely filled in some gaps.
Very well written. A good primer to begin to understand Haiti in particular and some of the concepts of US international aid in general. I can't wait to read Farewell Fred Voodoo.
I liked the style of writing and the topic covered. I wish she would have written some kind of follow-up post-1989.
I read about a third of this one and really enjoyed it, but I spilled soup on it and probably won't finish the rest anytime soon. Maybe I'll come back to it, maybe not...
If you haven't spent time in Haiti, you'll like this book; if you have, you'll love it ...
Good picture of Haitian history from the post Duvalier to Aristide period. Country then was in a mess just as it is today. Nothing changes.
Incredible book.
weird...I got this book for Christmas and it was kind of random. But now with the earthquakes - it seems really relevant.
Not what I would call neutral reporting - there's a definite political slant here. But still one of the best books I've read about Haiti's politics, by someone who really gets the culture.
Solid introduction to Haitian history between the ouster of Jean-Claude Duvalier and the overthrow of the military junta under Henry Namphy in 1989.
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Amy Wilentz is the award-winning author of The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier; Martyrs’ Crossing, a novel about Jerusalem, and I Feel Earthquakes More Often Than They Happen: Coming to California in the Age of Schwarzenegger.
From 1995 through 1999, she was The New Yorker’s Jerusalem correspondent. She’s a contributing editor at The Nation magazine and teaches in the Literary Journalism ...more
From 1995 through 1999, she was The New Yorker’s Jerusalem correspondent. She’s a contributing editor at The Nation magazine and teaches in the Literary Journalism ...more
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