Brief Encoutners With Che Guevara

I really enjoyed Brief Encounters With Che Guevara by Ben Fountain. The stories take place in exotic locales like Haiti, Columbia, and Myanmar and they all have some sort of epiphany that enlightens the protagonists. Some stories are more compelling than other and Fountain knows more about Haiti, so that country has prominence in being the setting for three of the stories. My favorites were the opening story of the committed bird watcher, “Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera”, the story of the opportunist golf pro, “Asian Tiger,” and the collection’s namesake: ”Brief Encounters With Che Guevara.” I look forward to more from Fountain. One note about the Harper Perennial edition-it had a really interesting section at the end called P.S., with interviews, essays and a selection of book reading suggestions from the author-I wish all books had these extras.