One of the most moving descriptions is of the town of Puerto Berrío where 'people go to the cemetery to visit the tombs of people they have never met' ... What Salama has produced is not only a moving book about social and cultural survival in the shadow of environmental and political chaos but also a deeply lyrical and astonishingly mature piece of writing that will move its readers. This stunning volume heralds an exciting new voice in narrative nonfiction.
The encounters are brief: Salama travels quickly, rarely spending more than a few days in each place. The result is a series of vignettes of everyday life along the river, described with great energy and warmth. The book’s most moving and memorable scenes, however, come when Salama stays somewhere long enough to form friendships—to slot into the rhythms of riverside existence ... Salama combines an appetite for adventure with a sense that adventure is not what it used to be, making Every Day the River Changes a curious mixture of youthful exuberance and wistful elegy.
In his debut travelogue, Salama tells the stories of the people who live along the Magdalena. Throughout each chapter, he shows how Colombia is continuing to struggle with the ongoing impact of its half-century of war and the environmental fallout of industrialization ... Salama’s insightful observations leave readers with a deep and nuanced look at Colombia.
A mesmerizing travelogue ... Through keen reporting, he unpacks how 'the ever-shifting fortunes of the Colombian people have long mirrored the rise and fall of their country’s greatest river' ... Both complex and achingly beautiful, this outstanding account brims with humanity.
Venturing by boat and overland, Salama witnessed 'a country that defied common evocations,' proving himself a fine reporter and arbiter of history, attentive to nuance as well as detail, and a keen observer of flora and fauna. Salama’s account is by turns joyous and sad ... Without fail, Salama finds what is interesting, sometimes noble, in each of them. Yet his regard for those he encounters never slips into sentiment or romanticism ... The book is more than a notable achievement in travel literature and more than a clarifying window into a misunderstood culture; it is a book of conscience and open-heartedness ... It is a privilege to savor, if vicariously, this harvest of a promising writer’s vivid journeys.
