J. Malcolm Garcia Pořadí knih

A debut novel by an award-winning journalist delves into the lives of individuals in a San Francisco homeless shelter and those who assist—or exploit—them. The narrative immerses readers in the growing homeless crisis in the U.S., focusing on powerful stories that highlight extreme poverty, destitution, and self-destruction. Tom, who manages a social services agency, strives to infuse humanity into his work, while Walter, a homeless man struggling with addiction, seeks to help others despite his own challenges. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel intimately portrays social workers navigating the complexities of finding shelter beds and dealing with federal programs, alongside homeless individuals battling addiction and striving for stable employment and housing. Drawing from the author's experiences as a social services worker in the 1980s and 1990s, the narrative brings to life the thoughts and struggles of combat veterans, addicts, sex workers, and the unemployed. The author transitioned from social services to journalism to share these poignant stories and the humanity of those he encountered. “There weren’t enough shelter beds, weren’t enough detoxes, weren’t enough jobs, weren’t enough anything for the people I wanted to help.” —Tom, social worker.

They bear labels instead of names—noncombatant, unintended victim, collateral damage. Theirs are the blurred faces and forms seen in news footage shot from a moving vehicle. And when soldiers, media, and profiteers move on to the next conflict, they stay behind to cope amid the wreckage. They have stories to tell to anyone who will pause long enough to hear them.In What Wars Leave Behind , J. Malcolm Garcia reveals the people and pain behind the statistics. He writes about impoverished families scraping by in Cairo’s city of the dead, ordinary Syrians pretending all is well as shells explode around them, and others caught in conflicts that rage long after the cameramen have packed up and gone away.Garcia describes his travels in some of the world’s hotspots in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In a series of personal travel essays that read like short stories, he exposes the endless messiness of war and the failings of good intentions, and he traces their impact on the lives of natives in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Kosovo, Chad, and Syria. He discovers amazing resilience among people who must struggle just to survive each day.Garcia gives readers the sort of gritty detail learned from immersing himself in other cultures. He eats the food, drinks the tea, and endures the oppressive heat. These are the stories of how a middle-class guy from the Midwest with a social work degree learned to experience and embrace the cultures of Third World countries in conflict—and lived to tell the tale.

"Collection of literary reportage from Afghanistan: stories that go unreported, the lives of people not usually considered newsworthy or important, people who struggle just to survive"

Focusing on the struggles of individuals escaping violence in Honduras and the challenges faced by Mexican reporters covering gang conflicts, this book presents a poignant examination of resilience and the human spirit. Through diverse voices, it highlights the lives of families surviving on the fringes, emphasizing their courage and the vital need for connection amidst the harsh realities of life in Mexico and Central America. The narrative is shaped by themes of grief and anger, offering a sensitive portrayal of those enduring uncommon adversity.