Is For Good Men To Do Nothing
Chris Verrill
(Guest Reviewer - Linda H. Klagenberg)
2005 Xlibris
ISBN: 1413456758

On September 11, 2001, like everyone, the author awoke to a different world. In addition to taking up a collection at his Rotary Club meeting, he decided he wanted to do more.

He wanted to find out what caused this tragedy & set out on a journey, not simply physical, to the Middle East & beyond. It became a journey of discovery.

The Western world wrung its collective hands in response to a new survivalist fear of travel following that fateful fall morning. Suicide bombers breathed their last in the West Bank. SARS contaminated the air. War ravaged Iraq. Or war liberated Iraq, depending on your perspective. In as lighthearted a way as was possible under the circumstances, the author sets out to explore these troubled hot spots & figure out why America continues to be sometimes loved & sometimes hated. Sometimes by the very same people. “Americans go home,” said one university student in India. “And take me with you.”

Is For Good Men To Do Nothing chronicles the author’s trek from the USA to Afghanistan, & 27 countries along the way, on a quest to try & figure out why this tragedy occurred; & maybe even do something about it.

Along the way he is interrogated by Israeli security; enjoys the breathtaking views of Liechtenstein; stomachs the poverty of Ethiopia; gets abducted by an angry bus driver in Greece; meets with UN officials in New York & Geneva; gets his pocket picked in Rome; says goodbye to his aging grandfather on Maui; talks politics in Kuwait; visits the last of the white rhinos in Tanzania; crosses from Pakistan into India in a motorcade under full military escort, & finally interviews former Mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan. All the while trying to make a small difference in the world by creating a vocational education program to aid Afghan refugees. International politics with a human touch. & a human mission.

Guest Reviewer Linda H. Klagenberg writes:

Pack your bags, dust off your passport, & apply for your visas. Or better yet, relax, & pick up a copy of Is For Good Men to do Nothing where you will be escorted by Chris Verrill on an extraordinary adventure around the world.

Although the impetus for the book was 9/11, it is more than the author's pursuit of trying to answer the question of why this tragedy occurred. It's about a Rotarian's quest to uproot ignorance, & provide hope to the oppressed. &, it's about an American pioneer exploring not only the disparities in the world, but the common human element. Most of all, it's about Verrill's journey of self-discovery as he connects with humanity, & realizes that there is no place like home sweet home, & the importance of family.

For those who enjoy comedy, Is For Good Men to do Nothing contains madcap adventures sure to illicit a chuckle or two. Verrill's writing is witty & refreshing with a brutally honest perspective on the world around him, & himself. His conversation with the finance minister of Jalalabad, Afghanistan is priceless.

Is For Good Men to do Nothing is a must read. It inspires the reader to follow Verrill's visionary lead to just make the world a little better than when we got here.

Linda H. Klagenberg contributes to www.shakesplace.com. She lives in California & frequents bookstores when she's not exploring tide pools or working as a registered nurse.
(04/10/05)

Guest Reviewer - Linda H. Klagenberg
2005©Linda H. Klagenberg