Theodore Isaac Erski starts us off on a good note this week, providing you with all 11 episodes of his audiobook, Salavandra: A Coffee Tale:
Salavandra is an isolated Caribbean island. Its products-coffee, lumber and flowers-are controlled by Penkava Inc., a New York based multinational commodity corporation. After discovering that Penkava is responsible for his father’s death, as well as the abysmal working conditions on the island, coffee farmer Antonio Richards ignites a revolution in the midst of a harvest season. Branding his infant insurgency The United Front for the Liberation of Salavandra (UFLS), he begins fighting the unbridled capitalistic forces controlling his country.
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on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 11:29 am and is filed under New Books.
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July 21st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Sounds interesting; think I’ll grab a cup and have a listen to Mr. Erski’s book…
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 am
I want to thank PodioBooks.com, Theodore Isaac Erski and Scott Sigler for bringing this terrific website to my attention. After listening to the first chapter of Mr. Erski’s book “Salavandra: A Coffee Tale” , I wish to tell all that made this possible, THANK YOU! Not just for some very interesting literature but for making it available to someone that could not afford it at this time. As I become a fan of these authors, I spread the word about their talents as writers and in the near future when my finances are back on track, I will gladly purchase their products. I can’t believe that more people don’t take advantage of this quality literary entertainment. Take Care & Please Keep Up The Great Work! JW, Cape Cod, MA, USA
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hello all, and thank you Harold and WaterRabbit for posting.
I really believe that free information opens rather than closes doors, which is why I posted my novel here on Podiobooks.com. One of the issues I ask my students, as they read the novel, is to discuss the term “digital divide” that quickly becomes apparent in the first three chapters. It’s revealing to me that here we all are, podcasters consumers, hooked in with high-speed access to more information than we can possibly use, when most of the world is so far behind us in this respect. I think Salavandra touches on this issue pretty strongly (in a novel context, of course).
August 6th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Wow a great novel. Reminds me so much of Monsanto. The ending had me absolutely up in arms, made me absolutely furious, it was great.
August 17th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I like this book, but the ending left me waiting for the next book.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:33 am
noooooooooooooo
It cant end like this man!
Great story but so sad it could nudge a depressed dude towards saucide.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
The ending felt way to rushed. You have him using the net to get information out there about what they were trying to do but didn’t build up that part of the story enough. There were organizations that were after them for the islands problems why did he not go to them for assistance or them to him. Why was there nothing on there about political pressures these groups would have tried to bring to bear when they found the chance. So much that could have been added to the storyline but was ignored.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
I was really please to find this novel here, with its depth of knowledge about the coffee business and its powerful justice themes.
I have a couple of suggestions: first, it needs a serious edit. Points are often made twice in a row or in too many words, and three quarters of the adverbs and adjectives could go. Second, the women on Salavandra are portrayed as dedicated, loving homemakers or, in Mary’s case, shallow and grasping. Women have played powerful roles in revolutionary organizations, background roles with high risk, like running messages, carrying supplies to hide-outs and painting illegal graffiti, as well as front-line roles–leading actions, carrying weapons and yes, burning warehouses. Why are Salavandra’s revolutionaries all men? Even if Mary had emerged from her funk at the sight of the gun on the table and shot Phillip, I would have felt a bit better.
However, that said, as a board member for the Maritime Province’s Beacon Award for Social Justice Literature, as well as a member of the investment coop for Just Us Fair Trade Coffee Roasters in Grand Pre, NS, I am truly delighted to find this novel here. Thanks to Mr Erski for writing and reading it and to Podiobooks for making it available. I’m off to download The Coffee Crusade!