Ben Fountain is the author of a short story collection, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, and a novel, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.At the Guardian, Fountain named his top ten books about Haiti. One title on the list:
Stripping Bare the Body: Politics Violence War by Mark DannerRead about the other books on the list.
The first section of this multi-part book – other sections focus on the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s, and the "war on terror" – is drawn from Danner's award-winning reportage on thechaotic years of 1986 to 1990, when Haitian civil society was trying to gain traction against a well-entrenched complex of reactionary powers. But Danner goes far beyond the events of the moment, and digs deep into Haitian history and culture; these chapters are the best primer on Haiti available, a thoughtful and vivid overview that is as relevant now as it was when first published some 20 years ago.
Also see: Amy Wilentz's ten best books on Haiti.
--Marshal Zeringue
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