||boek: De liefde is wild|Een spannende avonturenroman en een spirituele reis naar liefde en begrip|the house of books

||door: Kira Salak

||taal: nl
||jaar: 2009
||druk: ?
||pag.: 381p
||opm.: softcover|zo goed als nieuw

||isbn: 978-90-443-2382-5
||code: 2:000023

--- Over het boek (foto 1): De liefde is wild ---

Een geweldige avonturenroman die de menselijke ziel exploreert.

De jonge journaliste Marika Vecera schrijft over de onderdrukten en vergetenen van de wereld. Wanneer ze hoort dat de beroemde oorlogscorrespondent Robert Lewis, een man die zij enorm bewondert, dood is, besluit ze zijn biografie te schrijven.

Maar op een dag leest Marika een brief van een zendeling die beweert Lewis levend en wel te hebben gezien in de jungle van Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea. Marika kan aan niets anders meer denken. Ze gaat op reis naar een van 's werelds meest exotische en onbekende landen. Met behulp van de mysterieuze Tobo, haar gids, trekt Marika door het ondoordringbare oerwoud, op zoek naar de waarheid over Lewis, de man voor wie ze alles heeft opgegeven.

Kira Salak is ontdekkingsreizigster. Haar werk is vele malen bekroond. Ze schrijft onder andere voor National Geographic en heeft vrijwel elk werelddeel in haar eentje bereisd. Kira salak woont in Montana. Dit is haar debuutroman, die is gebaseerd op persoonlijke ervaringen.

In de traditie van Elizabeth Gilbert's Eten, bidden, beminnen

Bestsellerauteur van Dwars door de wildernis en Naar Timboektoe

[bron: https--www.bol.com]

Marika Vecera is a young war reporter, recently back from the Congo and venturing into the first serious relationship of her life, when she hears the news that Robert Lewis has committed suicide. Lewis was a famous war correspondent and a hero to Marika, and as she begins working on his biography she gets word from a missionary who claims to have seen Lewis alive. Astounded, Marika uproots her life in Boston and heads to Papua New Guinea - the world's least explored frontier - to uncover the truth. Encountering all the dangers of jungle travel and the haunting mythology of native tribes, Marika's search for Lewis becomes an unforgettable journey into the depths of the human soul.

[source: https--www.amazon.nl]

Marika Vecera, oorlogsjournaliste en schrijfster, is in Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea op zoek naar Robert Lewis, een beroemde collega en idool van haar, die zelfmoord zou hebben gepleegd. Marika twijfelt aan de echtheid van dit bericht en omdat ze intens research heeft gedaan over Lewis' leven en werk om er een biografie van te maken, wil ze zekerheid. Tijdens de barre tocht door de jungle gaan haar gedachten terug naar de hallucinante gbeurtenissen waarover ze eerder rapporteerde en naar haar grote liefde, Sebastian Gilman, die een doctoraat voorbereidt in Boston en doodsbang is haar te verliezen. De auteur heeft in deze debuutroman veel van haar eigen persoonlijkheid verwerkt in haar hoofdpersonage. Ook zij was jarenlang solo reizigster en oorlogsverslaggeefster en ook zij maakte ooit een soortgelijke barre tocht door PNG. Voor haar reportages werd ze ondermeer onderscheiden met de PEN-prijs voor journalistiek. Dit is niet enkel een verhaal vol avontuur en romantiek, maar ook het aangrijpende relaas van een zoektocht naar spirituele bevrijding.

[bron: https--bilzen.bibliotheek.be]

--- Over (foto 2): Kira Salak ---

Kira Salak (born September 4, 1971) is an American writer, adventurer, and journalist known for her travels in Mali and Papua New Guinea. She has written two books of nonfiction and a book of fiction based on her travels and is a contributing editor at National Geographic magazine.

Kira Salak was born on September 4, 1971 in a western suburb of Chicago. Her mother was a waitress and her father repaired mainframe computers. When Salak was 13, her parents sent her to Wayland Academy, a boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where she participated in cross-country activities and set a state level track record when she was 14. Though she began training for National and Olympic trials, she dropped out of the sport and decided to travel instead. Kira Salak received her B.F.A. in writing, literature and publishing from Emerson College. She received her M.F.A. in creative writing (fiction) from the University of Arizona. In 2004, she graduated from the University of Missouri, with a PhD in English; her two areas of specialization were 20th century American prose literature and travel literature.

At the age of 24, Salak took a year off from graduate school to backpack around Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Island nation, and became the first American woman to cross the country. Her first book, Four Corners: One Woman's Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, describes that journey. After the book was published, an editor of National Geographic Adventure magazine asked her to write for the magazine and Salak's career as a freelance writer began. Salak gained a reputation for being a tough adventurer, surviving war zones, coup attempts, and life-threatening bouts with malaria and cholera (the New York Times described her as a "tough, real life Lara Croft" and Book Magazine described her as "the gutsiest - and some say, craziest - woman adventurer of our day.")

Several of Salak's short stories have been published in journals such as Prairie Schooner, The Massachusetts Review, Quarterly West and Witness. One story, "Beheadings", about a war correspondent's search for her lost brother, is published in the anthology Best New American Voices.

According to Salak, she started writing at the age of six. After the death of her brother, Marc, in 2005, Salak took a year off from her magazine work to write her first novel The White Mary. In an interview, she described the experience:

"I wrote the entire book not long after my brother died. It was like an obsession. I lived in a tiny basement apartment in Columbia, Missouri, unemployed for a year. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. It was a very private experience. I almost feel that the book wasn't so much written by me, but channeled through me."

Salak now writes regularly for National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic, and other magazines about her travels to places which include Iran, Rwanda, Libya, Burma, Borneo, Uganda and Peru. In 2003, she convinced some Ukrainian gun-runners to fly her to the Democratic Republic of the Congo so she could report on the war. Salak stayed in the Congolese town of Bunia, which was taken over by child soldiers, an experience she described as "an endless stream of the worst, most inconceivable acts of inhumanity". She received a PEN literary award for her article about that experience. Her articles have also appeared in publications that include the New York Times Magazine, Travel & Leisure, The Washington Post, and Backpacker, and her work has appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing. Her fiction was selected for Best New American Voices (judged by Charles Baxter). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in various anthologies, including Adrenaline 2002: The Year's Best Stories of Adventure and Survival, The Best Women's Travel Writing, and Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction.

Awards

• Salak received the PEN Award for journalism in 2004 and has appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing.
• In 2005, the National Geographic Society awarded Salak with an Emerging Explorer Award.
• She has been awarded two Lowell Thomas Gold Awards for Best Foreign Article and Environmental Reporting.
• She has been awarded the AWP/ Prague Fellowship Award in creative nonfiction.

Accomplishments

• Kira Salak is described by the National Geographic Society's website as being the "first documented person to kayak solo 966 kilometres (600 mi) down the Niger river" and by the New York Times as "a real-life Lara Croft".
• Salak has been selected by the Library of Congress for its "Women Who Dare" publications, which highlight the world's top women explorers and leaders.
• She was the first woman to cross Papua New Guinea, following the route taken by Australian patrol officer Ivan Champion in 1927.
• First person to kayak up the Niger River

Media

Salak was profiled on the CBS Evening News. She has appeared on the CBC's prime-time news show, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos. She has been profiled in: The New York Times Book Review, Glamour, Vogue, The Observer, The Times, NY Post, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic, Book Magazine, National G

Books

• Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, National Geographic Books, 2004: an account of her journey across Papua New Guinea, retracing the 1927 route of explorer Ivan Champion.
• The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred miles to Timbuktu, National Geographic Books, 2004: an account of her 600-mile journey down the Niger River from Old Segou, Mali, to Timbuktu, following the route taken by the explorer Mungo Park.
• The White Mary, Henry Holt & Co., 2008: a novel concerning a traumatised war reporter, Marika Vecera, who embarks on a journey into Papua New Guinea to investigate a mysterious letter claiming that a Pulitzer-winning journalist, generally reported as having committed suicide, has been seen alive in a remote jungle there.

[source: wikipedia]

Kira Salak has traveled solo to almost every continent, visiting the world's remotest places. In 2002, Salak became the first person in the world to kayak solo 600 miles down the Niger River to Timbuktu in Mali. The first woman to cross Papua New Guinea, she also cycled 800 miles across Alaska to the Arctic Ocean. In 2007, Salak became one of a rare few to successfully complete Bhutan's 216-mile Snowman Trek - the hardest high altitude trek in the Himalayas (more people have reached the top of Mt. Everest than have completed the Snowman). Book Magazine has called her "the gutsiest - and some say, craziest - woman adventurer of our day." Says The New York Times: "Kira Salak is a tough, real life Lara Croft."

Salak is the author of three books. Her novel, The White Mary, published by Henry Holt in 2008, was Publisher's Weekly "Pick of the Week." Her nonfiction adventure book, Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea (National Geographic Books), was chosen by The New York Times as a Notable Travel Book of the Year. Salak's second travel book, The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles to Timbuktu, was published by National Geographic Books in 2004. Her books have been translated into several different languages.

Salak was one of five people in the world to receive a 2005 National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer Award, and she has led expeditions to such places as Libya, Iran, and Burma. A contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure magazine, her article about the Democratic Republic of Congo's civil war won her the prestigious 2004 PEN Award in Journalism. The United States Library of Congress chose Salak for inclusion in its "Women Who Dare" publications, highlighting the world's top women explorers and leaders. Her work has appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing, and she was awarded Lowell Thomas Gold Awards for Best Foreign Article, Best Adventure Article, and Best Environmental Reporting. Salak has written for such publications as National Geographic, The Washington Post, National Geographic Adventure, New York Times Magazine, Travel & Leisure, and Backpacker. Her fiction was chosen for inclusion in Best New American Voices. Her writing has been selected for various anthologies, including Adrenaline 2002: The Year's Best Stories of Adventure and Survival, The Best Women's Travel Writing, and Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction.

Salak has appeared on such shows as the CBS Evening News, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, and ABC's Good Morning America. She has been featured in many publications, including: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Book Review, Glamour, Vogue, The Observer, London Times, New York Post, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic, Book Magazine, Oprah Magazine, and National Geographic Adventure. In 2011, Salak was invited to Frankfurt, Germany as a guest speaker for Deutsche Bank's presentation, "The Scope of Risk: Leaders between Courage and Caution."

Salak holds a Ph.D. in English Literature and Writing from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the University of Arizona. A state champion in cross-country and track while in high school, she currently enjoys hiking, backcountry camping, kayaking, and exploring non-dualistic alternative realms. Salak lives in Germany, in the Bavarian Alps.

[source: http--www.kirasalak.com]

Kira Salak won the PEN Award for journalism for her reporting on the war in Congo, and she has appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing. A National Geographic Emerging Explorer and contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure magazine, she was the first woman to traverse Papua New Guinea and the first person to kayak solo 600 miles to Timbuktu. She is the author of three books--the critically acclaimed work of fiction, The White Mary (published by Henry Holt), and two works of nonfiction: Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea (a New York Times Notable Travel Book) and The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles to Timbuktu. She has a Ph.D. in English, her fiction appearing in Best New American Voices and other anthologies. Her nonfiction has been published in National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, Travel & Leisure, The Week, Best Women's Travel Writing, The Guardian, and elsewhere. Salak has appeared on TV programs like CBS Evening News, ABC's Good Morning America, and CBC's The Hour. The United States Library of Congress featured Salak in its book, Women Who Dare, which highlights the world's top women leaders. She lives with her husband and daughter.

[source: http--www.kirasalak.com]