Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia
by Tim Bascom
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Description
In 1964, at the age of three, Tim Bascom is thrust into a world of eucalyptus trees and stampeding baboons when his family moves from the Midwest to Ethiopia. The unflinchingly observant narrator of this memoir reveals his missionary parents' struggles in a sometimes hostile country. Sent reluctantly to boarding school in the capital, young Tim finds that beyond the gates enclosing that peculiar, isolated world, conflict roils Ethiopian society. When secret riot drills at school are followed show more with an attack by rampaging students near his parents' mission station, Tim witnesses the disintegration of his family's African idyll as Haile Selassie's empire begins to crumble. Like Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Chameleon Days chronicles social upheaval through the keen yet naive eyes of a child. Bascom offers readers a fascinating glimpse of missionary life, much as Barbara Kingsolver did in The Poisonwood Bible. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Tim Bascomb is the son of American missionaries, and, as a result, spent much of his childhood in Ethiopia in the 1960's.
Like the children of many former missionaries, he had to adapt and make adjustments to Western culture on his return to the United States. Unlike many that I've read about, he seems to have done a good job of adapting.
I also really like that he seems to be particularly clear-sighted about religion and about his past experiences. His views, on the whole seem very balanced, IMO.
This was a very good memoir.
Like the children of many former missionaries, he had to adapt and make adjustments to Western culture on his return to the United States. Unlike many that I've read about, he seems to have done a good job of adapting.
I also really like that he seems to be particularly clear-sighted about religion and about his past experiences. His views, on the whole seem very balanced, IMO.
This was a very good memoir.
Tim Bascom's experience as a child of missionaries in Ethiopia in the 1960's and 1970's. Tim started attending boarding school for Americans hundreds of miles from his family at age seven. He faced loneliness and anxiety being separated from his family for a number of weeks at a time.
His father was a doctor and served at several hospitals in Ethiopia. He learned to love the country and returned to it as an adult.
His father was a doctor and served at several hospitals in Ethiopia. He learned to love the country and returned to it as an adult.
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Author Information
6+ Works 113 Members
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Tim Bascom; Johnathan Bascom; Charles Bascom; Kathryn Bascom; Daniel Coleman
- Important places
- Africa; Ethiopia
- Dedication
- This book is dedicated to the many missionary children, known and unknown, who carry their own stories inside them.
In particular, it is dedicated to my brothers, John and Nat, and to my lifelong friend Daniel Colem... (show all)an.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, History, General Nonfiction, Travel, Religion & Spirituality
- DDC/MDS
- 963.06092 — History & geography History of Africa Ethiopia and Eritrea Ethiopia 1941-1974
- LCC
- DT387.95 .B365 .A3 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Africa History of Africa Eastern Africa Ethiopia (Abyssinia) History
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 59
- Popularity
- 523,585
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.60)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 2
