Other Americas

By Stephen Henighan

Once again Keith was following older brother Don, as he had all his life -- but this time it was to a dangerous rendezvous in Colombia. Leaving the Ottawa Valley farm for the poverty and violence of Bogota, Keith gains a new perspective on his life, his home and country, and their roles in the world. With meticulous detail, this dazzling first novel exposes social, political and economic problems in the "other Americas" of Canada and Colombia.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0889242186
• ISBN13: 9780889242180
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Length: 303 Pages

Customer Reviews

Dogging Don

Keith Merrick has spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. School, girls, books were always easily taken up by Don. Clearly, Don was beyond simply inheriting the Ottawa Valley farm worked by the family for generations. Grudgingly, the family sent him to university. Even so, a professional career in law should have returned Don to Ankara. Instead, he has fled to an alien world - the mountains of Colombia. As through all his life, Keith doggedly follows Don again, struggling to comprehend his brother's motivation. Henighan imparts Keith Merrick's worlds with striking insight in a onvincing narrative. Using his rural Ottawa Valley upbringing and Latin American travels, Henighan employs Keith as a vehicle for depicting how inadequately people in the Western Hemisphere understand their neighbours. To Canadian farmers, Colombia might be on Mars - in Bogota all gringos are "norteamericanos" - tourists from the u.s.a. Canada, likewise, might as well be on Mars. This is the basis of Henighan's story - "America" is not only the land between the 49th parallel and the Rio Grande River. There are, indeed, "Other Americas" and Henighan is anxious for us to glimpse them, however vaguely.Henighan sends Keith through the streets of Bogota and into the countryside. He's robbed, struggles to sustain his finances, stumbles into bizarre acquaintances, all the while beset by the novelty of his environment. Throughout the story, Henighan takes Keith into his early life in the Ottawa Valley, interspersing his Colombian quest with episodes of his roots. In some hands, this technique is clumsy, interrupting the narrative flow. Henighan performs it with finesse, providing the framework on which Keith must deal with his alien world. At the end, Keith must accept or deny the path Don has laid down for him to follow. It's a test of strength and character. Even if few of us are compelled to meet such a challenge, we all must be aware of its existence. These are, indeed, our neighbours and we, like Keith, must get to know them. Henighan ably presents his vivid message, and it is one which we must all heed.