Glenn Vanstrum

Let Fall Thy Blade (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Only in the heart of Africa can the heart of a surgeon change.

Dr. Malcolm Hartford promises to join his family on a grand vacation in East Africa before his daughter leaves for college. He cannot escape the hospital, though, until he finishes the most challenging case of his career. Sleep-deprived, burnt-out, mentally and physically exhausted, he finds rejuvenation among the wild plains and peoples of the Masai Mara.

Guided by a wilderness-savvy Maasai guide, the Hartfords (Malcolm, his wife, son, and daughter), unlock the secrets of the tooth-and-claw African plains, witnessing rituals and events that make their California world seem distant and unreal. As a pride of lions slaughters a Cape buffalo, a hippo defends its baby from a hungry croc, and a bull elephant dies mysteriously, the family strengthens its bonds through shared adventures and revelations.

In the land of the Maasai, the Hartfords become an integral part of the intersection of man and nature at its most raw. They steal honey from African bees, perform surgery in crude conditions, and participate in a circumcision ceremony with hundreds of warriors. The experience transforms them, calling forth ancestral memories buried deep within their DNA.

When the travelers encounter a gang of poachers, though, the vacation descends into catastrophe. Malcolm must use every bit of training a lifetime of running and operating have lent him. Even on returning to the United States, Kenya leaves its mark, both for good and evil. A fathomless love powers him to save his family in Africa. Only their faith and trust can help him choose between life and oblivion at home.

"An ambitious story, full of action and realistic dialogue, featuring a dynamic central character. Some of Vanstrum's finest writing to date."

--John A. Murray; author of more than 40 books, including Cinema Southwest and The Sierra Club Nature Writing Handbook

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Distributed via Smashwords
• Seitenzahl: 370
• Erscheinungstermin: 4. Oktober 2011
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781465980496
• Artikelnr.: 45463124

Autorenporträt

Glenn Vanstrum's fiction has been published in LITnIMAGE, the Bellevue Literary Review, and THEMA. His book of nature writing, The Saltwater Wilderness (Oxford), won a San Diego Book Award. Essays of his have appeared in Sierra, California Wild, and the Los Angeles Times.

Vanstrum has written five novels and two story collections. Setting plays a major role in his character-driven fiction, work that often uses nature, music, or medical themes. His novels range from drama (Let Fall Thy Blade; Certain Stars Shot Madly) to historical fiction (Northern Liberties) to satire (S.I.C. Memorial). His latest work, Humboldt, a story set among the Northern California redwoods, is part roman noir, part satire, and part thriller.

A Minnesotan by birth, Vanstrum majored in music at Grinnell College in Iowa and attended U.C.S.D. medical school. He has spent most of his life in California, where he practices anesthesiology.

A professional nature photographer, he publishes images in numerous venues worldwide. Magazine credits include Audubon, Sierra, Terre Sauvage, National Geographic Traveler, National Wildlife, and Discover. The photographic stock agencies Animals Animals/Earth Scenes and Custom Medical Stock Photography represent his photographs.

Vanstrum, a pianist from age five, still practices daily and performs works from the classical, romantic, and modern repertoire on a regular basis. A student of Cecil Lytle and the late Nathan Schwartz, he plays both solo and chamber pieces.

The author, a lifelong surfer, has ridden waves in Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Bali. Still riding a shortboard, he wipes out with great regularity.

Further information on Vanstrum's writing, including book reviews; music, including concert schedules; and surfing, including a surf blog; appears at http://www.gvanstrum.com

"Glenn Vanstrum is a force of nature. In addition to being a published author (The Saltwater Wilderness, Oxford University Press, 2003), he is a concert pianist (and regularly performs complex pieces by Beethoven and Mozart in public venues near his home in San Diego), a highly regarded medical doctor, an accomplished surfer, an underwater photographer who has worked around the world, and a dedicated husband and father. Somehow, in this incredibly busy life, he continually produces exemplary works of fiction and non-fiction.

"I've known Glenn for fifteen years. In that time, I have read eve...