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Mortimer of the Maghreb
An exciting fiction a collection of psychologically complex, often darkly comic stories that take us into the self-made Edens of travelers whose certain paths around the world lead invariably back to the uncertain self.
The title story introduces Charles Mortimer, an aging, ailing war reporter determined to reestablish his name by covering a little-noted civil war playing out in the Sahara. In the stories that follow, we see the arc of his extraordinary journalistic accomplishment at the very apex of his field; a precipitous, disgraced end to his career; and, finally, a chance discovery of an obituary that revives his memories of the beautiful French photographer who had accompanied him through the Sahara, and whose love he forfeited as the price for his fleeting success.
The Caribbean is the deceptively paradisiacal setting for the second cycle of stories. In “Castaway” a globe-trotting businessman—he thinks of his university housing fifteen years earlier as his last real home—finds himself trapped by his own freedom, the “dream he set out to fulfill [having] become grim truth.” In “Old Providence” a dissolute artist mourns a lost love and the “bloody perfect island” where, through his own callow foolishness, he lost her. And in “Darien Dogs” a stockbroker who once had everything, now down on his luck in Panama City, takes off in desperation on a surreal quest into “the aboriginal Caribbean” of the San Blas archipelago, a protected environment for the local Cuna Indians but for him a primitive, confounding, hellish maze.
Imbued with an erotic, muscular charge, imaginative depth and compulsive energy—here is the work of an assured and gifted writer.
The title story introduces Charles Mortimer, an aging, ailing war reporter determined to reestablish his name by covering a little-noted civil war playing out in the Sahara. In the stories that follow, we see the arc of his extraordinary journalistic accomplishment at the very apex of his field; a precipitous, disgraced end to his career; and, finally, a chance discovery of an obituary that revives his memories of the beautiful French photographer who had accompanied him through the Sahara, and whose love he forfeited as the price for his fleeting success.
The Caribbean is the deceptively paradisiacal setting for the second cycle of stories. In “Castaway” a globe-trotting businessman—he thinks of his university housing fifteen years earlier as his last real home—finds himself trapped by his own freedom, the “dream he set out to fulfill [having] become grim truth.” In “Old Providence” a dissolute artist mourns a lost love and the “bloody perfect island” where, through his own callow foolishness, he lost her. And in “Darien Dogs” a stockbroker who once had everything, now down on his luck in Panama City, takes off in desperation on a surreal quest into “the aboriginal Caribbean” of the San Blas archipelago, a protected environment for the local Cuna Indians but for him a primitive, confounding, hellish maze.
Imbued with an erotic, muscular charge, imaginative depth and compulsive energy—here is the work of an assured and gifted writer.
- GenresFiction
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Henry Shukman
27 books83 followersHenry Shukman (IG: @henryshukman) is an authorized Zen Master in the Sanbo Zen lineage, and is spiritual director emeritus of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He is the co-founder and lead meditation teacher for The Way, a meditation app that provides a modern update to the ancient path of meditation training. He also leads meditation courses and retreats.
Henry is an award-winning poet and author, whose memoir One Blade of Grass recounts his own journey through meditation practice. His new book Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening is a manual and map describing the four key zones of meditation practice. Original Love is now available for pre-order, and will be published in early July, 2024.
His struggles and traumatic experiences as a youth, combined with a spontaneous awakening experience at 19, and many years of training under several teachers, paved the way for his developing a well-rounded approach to healing and awakening through meditation.
(copied from Amazon Web page
He is the co-founder and lead meditation teacher for The Way, a meditation app that provides a modern update to the ancient path of meditation training. He also leads meditation courses and retreats.
Henry is an award-winning poet and author, whose memoir One Blade of Grass recounts his own journey through meditation practice. His new book Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening is a manual and map describing the four key zones of meditation practice. Original Love is now available for pre-order, and will be published in early July, 2024.
His struggles and traumatic experiences as a youth, combined with a spontaneous awakening experience at 19, and many years of training under several teachers, paved the way for his developing a well-rounded approach to healing and awakening through meditation.
(copied from Amazon Web page
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 30, 2009
Wonderful stories. Described a life and landscape very different from mine. Very thought provoking.
January 13, 2022
Evocative and compelling, dark. Great writing.
November 24, 2008
This is sort of your typical story of a war reporter, traveling off to far lands and making somewhat narrow conclusions about the people he is studying. This is normal for most foreigners in lands where it is difficult to truly immerse in or understand new, so different cultures, and in this way, Shukman's writing is true to life. He's a decent story teller. The first half the book takes place in North Africa, and despite the somewhat silly existence of a love story thread, it's generally well-done. You can truly feel what it is like to walk through the desert for days. The second half takes place in the Carribean with a totally different character who strikes me as a complete jerk so I did not complete this half.
August 6, 2010
I found the whole book painfully boring, but especially the first story. Mortimer actually says “war is boring”. I'll have to take his word for it, but I’d rather not read a boring novel. The shifting back and forth between past, present, and middle didn't flow well at all. I enjoyed some of the beautiful descriptions of the desert, a climate I have never admired or identified with, so there was that. Old Providence didn't really stand out to me, and Darien Dogs came across as totally ridiculous much of the time.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews