Living Liberia: Laughter, Love & Folly

“A work of art, history and love.” In the winter of his 39th year, Robert Cherry, a journalist and author of the acclaimed biography of an American sports legend (Wilt Chamberlain), made a return visit to Africa. His destination was Kpaytuo, the village in the Liberian rain forest where, fourteen years before, he had served as a Peace Corps Volunteer—the first American to live there. The result is "Living Liberia," which introduces the reader to a charming, exotic, bewildering and unforgettable land, although given Liberia’s history, it seems that God Himself, at times, has forgotten it. The book evokes the author’s special and enduring relationship with, and his sharp and witty observations about, the country and its people, including Liberia’s unique history—it was founded by freed American slaves, known as Americo-Liberians, who dominated the indigenous tribal people until they were overthrown in a coup; the challenges of living in a village for almost two years without electricity and running water and teaching with a principal who made up national holidays. Moreover, it depicts the education of a young American in tribal sexual mores and taboos, relates his experiences with, or his reflections about, caste and race; polygamy and the controversial initiation rite of female genital mutilation (FGM); and, not least, records his encounters with a memorable gallery of African idealists and rogues. The author brings the story full circle in the Afterword, where he recounts the fate of his friends and students who survived—and those who did not—Liberia’s Civil War. “Moving, funny and informative” is how one reviewer described the author’s earlier work, fitting words as well for his latest effort—“Living Liberia.”