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When Things Get Dark

A Mongolian Winter's Tale

By Davis, Matthew D.

Publishers Summary:
At 23, Matt Davis moved to a remote Mongolian town to teach English.What he found when he arrived was a town—and a country—undergoing wholesale change from a traditional, countryside existence to a more urban, modern identity. When Things Get Dark documents these changes through the Mongolians Matt meets, but also focuses on the author's downward spiral into alcohol abuse and violence--a scenario he saw played out by many of the Mongolian men around him. Matt's self-destruction culminates in a drunken fight with three men that forces him to a hospital to have his kidneys X-rayed. He hits bottom in that cold hospital room, his body naked and shivering, a bloodied Mongolian man staring at him from an open door, the irrational thought in his head that maybe he is going to die there. His personal struggles are balanced with insightful descriptions of customs and interactions, and interlaced with essays on Mongolian history and culture that make for a fascinating glimpse of a mysterious place and people.

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ISBN
978-0-31260-773-9
Publisher
St. Martin's Press


REVIEWS

Library Journal

Reviewed on January 21, 2010

In his early twenties, Davis spent two years in a small Mongolian town teaching English to its inhabitants. But his ominous suggestion at the beginning that his drinking will undo him never quite comes to fruition. More interesting are his everyday interactions with Mongolians, particularly his co-teachers at the local college. They are the fabric of Mongolian society-the main and sometimes sole breadwinners, they also take care of the kids and the housework while their often feckless husbands drink and fight. Depressing, yes, but the women's pluck never flags, and Davis never lets them be martyrs.-Tania Barnes, Brooklyn, NY Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc. Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc. ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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