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
Results 1-5 of 47
Page
... sides , treating the road like a giant sidewalk , their white shawls and bright head wraps bobbing as they weaved around each other . Donkeys and oxen bumped into the van , whipped along by barefoot men in ballooning shorts . After ...
... sides , treating the road like a giant sidewalk , their white shawls and bright head wraps bobbing as they weaved around each other . Donkeys and oxen bumped into the van , whipped along by barefoot men in ballooning shorts . After ...
Page
... side on top . And when we woke at noon - barely in time for lunch - we lay paralyzed on our metal - frame beds , sweaty under the wool blankets and not sure if we were in the right story . Everything felt so jarring and out of place ...
... side on top . And when we woke at noon - barely in time for lunch - we lay paralyzed on our metal - frame beds , sweaty under the wool blankets and not sure if we were in the right story . Everything felt so jarring and out of place ...
Page
... five boxes of Amharic New Testaments . We all hugged him , even Nat , who was getting old enough to imitate us . At my turn , Johnathan smiled shyly , embarrassed . His arms stayed at his side . He wouldn't listen to anything I said.
... five boxes of Amharic New Testaments . We all hugged him , even Nat , who was getting old enough to imitate us . At my turn , Johnathan smiled shyly , embarrassed . His arms stayed at his side . He wouldn't listen to anything I said.
Page
... side , as if marking the edge of the world . We had both been so engaged in our immediate surroundings , celebrating the hummocky green ground and the rocks under foot , that we were stunned by this abrupt end to the landscape . Mom and ...
... side , as if marking the edge of the world . We had both been so engaged in our immediate surroundings , celebrating the hummocky green ground and the rocks under foot , that we were stunned by this abrupt end to the landscape . Mom and ...
Page
... sides , running pell - mell toward the cliff . At the edge they didn't slow . Without pause , they leapt into space , leaving behind just the grass and the wind and the African kite gliding high above , wings still as welded steel ...
... sides , running pell - mell toward the cliff . At the edge they didn't slow . Without pause , they leapt into space , leaving behind just the grass and the wind and the African kite gliding high above , wings still as welded steel ...
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 | |
Other editions - View all
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