Defending the Left: An Individual's Guide to Fighting for Social Justice, Individual Rights, and the Environment

The author and her husband, Robb Annable, a college advisor and social worker respectively, quit their jobs to traverse 22 African countries in a year (1989-1990). Ascanio's lengthy account is fluent but unsatisfying. While descriptively cataloguing the regular traumas and occasional epiphanies of travel, she offers only occasional insights into the countries visited. The hardy couple did have many adventures, however, mingling with ordinary people on the streets and in low-budget transportation. The two drove through the ``dynamic beauty'' of the Sahara, saw a group of men ambushed by prostitutes in Niger, met the president of Guinea-Bissau and passed through Liberia during civil war. The trip forced them to think about racism and the history of slavery, but their laments about Africa's problems require more reflection. The trip did change them: they learned patience and returned to America overwhelmed by its consumer culture. The author's travel tips--such as ``never give up your luggage until the deal is set''--make the book a worthy supplement for would-be adventurers. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)