The New Bedford Samurai
"A brilliant fusion of a nonfiction novel and an ecologically concerned memoir, Anca Vlasopolos' latest book, The New Bedford Samurai, takes the reader on multiple journeys. She takes us back through time, bringing to life the true saga of a nineteenth-century Japanese castaway, Manjiro Nakahama, and through space, taking us with her to Japan, where we learn of the plight of the short-tailed albatross. What's more, this creative, eloquent, and heartrending book makes us care." --Susan Morgan, author of Place Matters: Gendered Geography in Victorian Women's Travel Writing about Southeast Asia."Anca Vlasopolos brings passion and poetic talent to vivifying the poignant story of the nineteenth-century boy castaway Nakahama Manjiro. His inadvertent displacement from one side of the world to another is used here as a jumping-off point for adumbrating some of the destructive aspects of present-day globalization. Describing the career of her protagonist, Vlasopolos has brought particular attention to nineteenth-century environmental depredations whose fallout continues to destroy our world. Her imaginatively structured account includes pleas for reconsideration of some of the present-day attitudes and practices that are extending the scope of the destruction, adding to the growing body of literature that seeks to address the urgent need for consciousness-raising in these areas." --Lindsley Cameron, author of The Music of Light: The Extraordinary Story of Hikari and Kenzaburo Oe."Vlasopolos brings to life the remarkable and adventurous story of John Manjiro, an indomitable trans-Pacific ambassador between east and west at a time of isolation, ignorance, and distrust. Here is an evocative slice of space-time: the world of maritime commerce and culture in the mid-nineteenth century, taking the reader on an epic adventure--from being marooned on a deserted island, to whaling the western Pacific, Hawaii, early New Bedford, the California Gold Rush, and into the reclusive traditions of early Japan. The Manjiro story is a parable for modern times--a portal into the relationship between cultures and between humans and the natural world. This is a fascinating, heretofore untold story, and Vlasopolos tells it with beauty, charm, historical accuracy, and introspection..." --Rick Steiner, Marine Conservation Specialist, co-director of the environmental NGO  "The Coastal Coalition" and notable environmental writer.