Untreed Reads discussion

This unique memoir reveals another time, another place and the young man who grew up along the way:

These later letters, with their sharply focussed details of places he visits and people he meets, gave us a glimpse of the as yet to emerge Dorien Grey. Roger’s gentle humour and not taking life too seriously are captivating. Told by someone else, life aboard ship for a man who was essentially a typing clerk would be boring and monotonous. But not when Roger is wielding the pen. He manages to find interesting things to say, even when he doesn’t think he’s being interesting.

You can read the full review at Random Thoughts and a book excerpt at Untreed Reads.

A World Ago: A Navy Man's Letters Home by Dorien Grey:

It's not often one has the chance to become 20 again...

A World Ago chronicles, through one young man's journal and vivid letters to his parents, his life, adventures, and experiences at a magical time. It follows him from being a Naval Aviation Cadet to becoming a “regular” sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga on an eight-month tour of duty in the politically tense Mediterranean Sea.

Learn to fly a plane, to soar, alone, through a valley of clouds, experience a narrow escape from death on a night training flight, and receive the continent of Europe as a 21st birthday gift. Climb down into the crater of Mt. Vesuvius, visit Paris, Cannes, Athens, Beirut, Valencia, Istanbul and places in-between; wander the streets of Pompeii, have your picture taken on a fallen column on the Acropolis, ride bicycles on the Island of Rhodes, experience daily life aboard an aircraft carrier during the height of the cold war—all in the company and through the eyes of a young will-be-writer coming of age with the help of the United States Navy.

A World Ago is a rare glimpse into the personal and private world of a young man on the verge of experiencing everything the world has to offer—and discovering a lot about himself in the process.