Lebanon may not receive the most news coverage, but this book will make you think it should. It was written by an American during the year 2009-2010, when his wife took a job working for an NGO near the border with Israel. Become an armchair expat as he shares his experiences of anti-American bias and the chances of a war with Israel constantly looming. You will be fascinated to walk through Tyr vicariously, and troubled as you realize what lurks below the surface there also lurks here and everywhere. Since his wife had the job, and his son went to school, the American would take lengthy walks daily through the nearby city of Tyr, observing and experiencing the locals, the expatriot international community, Hizbullah, historic sites, and the Mediterranean Sea in ways he had never encountered before. His memoir, A Year in Tyr, is the result. It is a fascinating yet troubling record of one American's sojourn from the good life, to anxiety over anti-American bias, to dread of war with Israel, which seems to loom as a very real possibility at all times among those who live in southern Lebanon. Told with warmth and humor at times and very tough talk at others, A Year in Tyr is sure to get people talking about something Margaret Atwood raised when she said, "There is just one race -- the human race -- and we are all members of it." This book is a wake-up call on that very subject. This is the second release by the author, Eric Jonas Swensson. His first book was Kinderbeten, an historical work. He had planned to use the year in Tyr to do more historical research in his field, but he found the subject of Lebanon and its present-day politics right in his face and very compelling. So will you.
About the Author: Eric Jonas Swensson lives outside of New York City with his family. He is an author, blogger, historian, and social media director. He was a pastor at a church for 17 years before resigning to go overseas on the trip that became the basis for this memoir. He took pains to describe what he saw and heard and give a faithful representation of what he read while there. Nothing in the book is "made up" though the other characters who were inspired by actual people are not meant to be understood as faithful representations the same way as events in the book. This work is what it is, but it is hoped that it not be understood in a way that reinforces negative stereotypes. The author finished editing a historical monograph during this time, Kinderbeten: The Origin, Unfolding, and Interpretations of the Silesian Children's Prayer Revival, which is available through Amazon.com.