Bullets & Beans: Lessons from Colombia

by James Perry

Intent on hiking through the South American jungle in order to visit a pre-Columbian lost city, the author and his companion first take time to explore Colombia from the Amazon to the Caribbean as it balances precariously between the hope of a lasting peace and a return to violence and war. As the title suggests, what happens in Colombia may provide lessons for the rest of us as well. An adventurous narrative told with insight and wit, BULLETS & BEANS (the title refers to an American aid program) will give the reader a sense of the country beyond the headlines.

184 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2017

About the author

James Perry (1960-?) was born in England to a French mother and an American father. He moved to the United States with his family when he was two years old. Leading an itinerant life from the very start, he has lived in Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, Florida, and Wyoming. He has also spent extended periods of his adult life overseas; in Taiwan, England, France, and Thailand. Understandably, his first book was a travel memoir. 'Fortune's Child: Travels on the Open Road' deals with the author's experience as an English teacher in Taiwan, a residential counselor in London's East End, and follows along on the author's trek across Europe and into Africa. After 'Fortune's Child' the author departed from the travel genre to write his most successful publication to date, 'Squatters in Paradise: A Yellowstone Memoir' which covers his years as a seasonal employee in America's first national park. His third book, 'The Visible Sun: Exploring the Ruta Maya' came out in April 2012. It returns to the travel genre and follows the author and his companion as they explore the vestiges of the ancient Maya in Mexico and Central America. His most recent publication, 'The Intangible Empire: Notes from a Vagrant Life' takes off the gloves to explore "the whole vast earth" with stories from China to Patagonia. These insightful and irreverent tales show the author at his engaging best, traveling the world with an open mind and - perhaps most important - a sense of humor.