Summary and Reviews of The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley

Media Reviews

Ft. Worth Star Telegram - Lev Raphael Gripping, heartbreaking reading . . . .The interweaving of Hemingway's story, the students' narratives of terror and Huntley's own tales of discovery make for a book that is stirring and nearly impossible to put down.

Newsday - Daphne Uville [Huntley] has ensured that anyone who reads her book will truly know and remember this forsaken Balkan land.

San Jose Mercury News - Jill Wolfson This moving, painful and ultimately uplifting memoir began as a series of e-mails to friends at home, and the entries retain the casual, heartfelt wisdom of someone writing off the top of her head. Huntley is all the things a reader would want in a guide to a foreign land at times, angry, at times frustrated with politics, at times funny, but always homing in on the most telling, human experiences.

Boston Globe - Michael Kenney [Huntley's journal] is a glowing testament to why people in far-off countries about which we know little, and too often care even less, still admire, respect, and even love Americans.

Hope Magazine - Sara Terry This unpretentious record is an all too rare thing --a memoir of the heart about a forsaken part of the world that blazed into headlines, grabbed its bloody fifteen minutes of fame, and then promptly fell off the West's radar screen once again . . . Huntley offers no solutions, no analysis. But what does light this book is her persistent faith in the power of connectedness, of nurturing the human spirit, of the obligations that we, as human beings, have to one another.

Rocky Mountain News [Huntley] reminds readers that life-and effective writing-is not always about following the rules, but about following your heart.

The San Francisco Chronicle - Brad Newsham [Huntley's] memoir is poignant, thoughtful, and humble -- and exactly the kind of story Americans need to hear right now.

The Washington Post - Jon Fasman Paula Huntley's surprisingly affecting memoir arrives at an opportune moment; it reminds us not merely that Kosovo exists but also of the importance of that Bush-Rovian bogeyman, nation-building . . . Nation-building requires not merely, not even primarily the commitment of government resources; it also requires brave ordinary Americans like Paula Huntley -- and one hopes, like some of her readers, who will perhaps be inspired by her stories -- to leave the comforts of home and see the world unmediated through television cameras or journalists' eyes.

Booklist Although she never intended for her journal to be published, its beautiful, soul-searching passages deserve to be embraced by the world.

Kirkus Reviews Coming across most forcefully here are the everyday revelations of a land, history, and circumstance so different than any the author had ever known the honor-bound blood feuds, the pervasive fear, the long memories so successfully exploited by ideologues, the organizational jockeying and international politicking amid the misery, the remarkable instinct to survive, but also the godawful crushing of that instinct when experiences are just too horrible to be absorbed.

Publishers Weekly Huntley's journal not only shares their stories, but reminds readers that by volunteering, people get back more than they give.

 Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Sometimes a small story tells a far larger one. Such is the case with The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo. Paula Huntley shows us the common humanity that can heal even the most terrible wounds.

 Dr. Susan F. Beegel, editor, The Hemingway Review This book is an important plea for Americans to become more involved in the wider world...

 Jason Elliott, author of An Unexpected Light Travels in Afghanistan This book is brave and heartfelt . . . I hope it will become an inspiration to many others.

 Jeri Laber, a founder of Human Rights Watch and author of The Courage of Strangers ...engaging, compassionate and insipirational...Paula Huntley's loving involvement with her students went far beyond teaching she changed their lives...

 Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia, Another Country, and The Middle of Everywhere This wonderful book is a story of love and transformation. Huntley is an excellent storyteller....She writes with heart and intelligence, which is my definition of wisdom. Soon the reader is a member of The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo.

 Melanne Verveer, Chair, Vital Voices Global Partnership and former Chief of Staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton Every American should read this absorbing book so they can better understand why the United States intervened in Kosovo...

 Terence Ward, author of Searching for Hassan ...shines a human light on the brave Kosovar Muslim Albanians.