Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia“Moves beyond a compelling personal story to shed radiant light on history itself . . . an essential chronicle of midcentury American idealism.” —Patricia Hampl, author of The Art of the Wasted Day In 1964, at the age of three, Tim Bascom is thrust into a world of eucalyptus trees and stampeding baboons when his family moves from the Midwest to Ethiopia. The unflinchingly observant narrator of this memoir reveals his missionary parents’ struggles in a sometimes hostile country. Sent reluctantly to boarding school in the capital, young Tim finds that beyond the gates enclosing that peculiar, isolated world, conflict roils Ethiopian society. When secret riot drills at school are followed with an attack by rampaging students near his parents’ mission station, Tim witnesses the disintegration of his family’s African idyll as Haile Selassie’s empire begins to crumble. Like Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Chameleon Days chronicles social upheaval through the keen yet naive eyes of a child. Bascom offers readers a fascinating glimpse of missionary life, much as Barbara Kingsolver did in The Poisonwood Bible. “Such precision in voice earned Bascom the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference Bakeless Prize, and his smartly naïve observations grow more sophisticated as the country succumbs to political unrest in the 1970s and missionary life becomes uncertain. Nostalgic but not overwrought, Bascom’s memoir is accented with casual family snapshots like ribbons on the gift of a gently captured place in time.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Bascom, son of missionaries, illuminates the Ethiopia of his childhood in this Bakeless Prize–winning memoir . . . A stirring tribute to a turbulent, beautifully evoked era.” —Kirkus Reviews |
From inside the book
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... parents. That alchemy—a child's-eye view of arduous immediacy—is maintained quite admirably in his memoir, forty years later, thus breaching the standard traditions of travel writing. Although his father was a doctor, not merely an ...
... parents. That alchemy—a child's-eye view of arduous immediacy—is maintained quite admirably in his memoir, forty years later, thus breaching the standard traditions of travel writing. Although his father was a doctor, not merely an ...
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... the Bible ? " Johnathan was quick with his answer : " Yes . The ten that Jesus healed ! " I wanted to be just as smart . “ I know that story , " I yelled . But no one seemed to notice . Subject to their parents , children learn to adjust .
... the Bible ? " Johnathan was quick with his answer : " Yes . The ten that Jesus healed ! " I wanted to be just as smart . “ I know that story , " I yelled . But no one seemed to notice . Subject to their parents , children learn to adjust .
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An American Boyhood in Ethiopia Tim Bascom. Subject to their parents , children learn to adjust . When our parents moved to Ethiopia in 1964 to become missionaries with the Sudan Interior Mission , my brothers and I spent our first two ...
An American Boyhood in Ethiopia Tim Bascom. Subject to their parents , children learn to adjust . When our parents moved to Ethiopia in 1964 to become missionaries with the Sudan Interior Mission , my brothers and I spent our first two ...
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... parents went back to work. Each morning they met with the other missionaries for three hours of intensive language practice, leaving Nat and me with the brown-skinned nanny whom I still refused to acknowledge. She smelled of wood smoke ...
... parents went back to work. Each morning they met with the other missionaries for three hours of intensive language practice, leaving Nat and me with the brown-skinned nanny whom I still refused to acknowledge. She smelled of wood smoke ...
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... parents . As a result , what I learned about Ethiopian culture came to me slowly . One morning as Mother planned the Bible lesson she would teach to a women's group , cutting out a cardboard figure of little Zaccheus the tax collector ...
... parents . As a result , what I learned about Ethiopian culture came to me slowly . One morning as Mother planned the Bible lesson she would teach to a women's group , cutting out a cardboard figure of little Zaccheus the tax collector ...
Contents
The Emperors Smile | |
Birth Order | |
Bushwhacking | |
In My Fathers House | |
My Brothers Keeper | |
Blessed Assurance | |
Moon Landing | |
My World Their World | |
Sent Back | |
And Ill Fly Away | |
My Pilgrim Progress | |
Riot Drill | |
Hidden Agendas | |
Pigeon Fever | |
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Common terms and phrases
Addis Ababa African Darter Amharic arms asked Ato Aba Goli Ato Wandaro avocado avocado tree began Bingham Academy Bishoftu boarding school boys brother chameleon Christian church cinders climbed Danny dark didn’t donkey door dorm Emperor Ethiopian eucalyptus eyes feel felt fence ferengi finger flannelgraph front girls grass green Hadiya Haile Selassie hair hall hand head hear Hosanna hospital injera inside Jesus Johnathan kids kitchen knew lake Land Rover laughed legs Leimo lifted looked madoqua Malachite Kingfisher Marie Marta mission missionary Mom and Dad Mount Damoto night older parents patients prayed pulled road seemed Shashamane shoulder shouted side skin sleep smiled Soddo Stan stared station stayed stepped stood stop stream talk Timmy told Tom Swift took turned voice waiting walked wall wanted watched weaverbird whispered window Wolaita yelled yellow