Not Quite Paradise An American Sojourn in Sri Lanka

A chronicle of life on the resplendent island, combining the immediacy of memoir with the vividness of travelogue and reportage Missing neither the nuances of the peaceful Buddhist pace of life nor the explosive violence of its protracted civil war and the 2004 tsunami, Adele Barker offers an eye-opening account of the "pearl" of the Indian Ocean, inviting American readers to experience firsthand the vivid beauty and turmoil of a place few have ever visited.

Adele Barker, who was awarded a Ucross Fellowship for her work on this book, is the author or editor of five books on Russian literature and cultural life. Most recently, she received a Fulbright Senior Scholar grant to teach and write in Sri Lanka.