Our June Author: Frank Huyler

This month we read the novel Right of Thirst by writer-physican Frank Huyler.  This brief audio interview from KUNM radio gives a good explanation of the themes and events that inspired the novel.

In this UCPress interview, Huyler is asked for his views on healthcare reform and puts in a plug for a Rights Readers favorite, W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz.

From New Mexico Magazine:

Q: What unique insights, as a physician, do you bring to your fiction?
A: I don’t know that I bring special insight, but being a doctor often reminds you of the real forces in the world. As a doctor, you’re around dramatic events. You’re seeing people in extreme circumstances. There’s an enormous advantage to seeing that all the time. Being exposed to elemental forces is an advantage. It’s the antithesis of the ivory tower—the dark tower, perhaps. It’s very much the real world

And here's a short video introduction to the book from the author:



Finally, The Guardian has a profile focused on his earlier memoir, The Blood of Strangers, an excerpt of which can be found at LOST Magazine.

Here's a little bonus on the subject of relief workers: a trailer for the film Living in Emergency about Doctor's without Borders.  Now playing Pasadena!

ProSorata

Frank Huyler, author of this month's selection, Right of Thirst, is donating some of the proceeds from his book to an NGO that provides health care to women and children in Bolivia.  I'll give him a chance to tell you about it:





Learn more about ProSorata at their website.  And while you are at it you can check out Amnesty International's campaign for maternal health here.  Don't forget to take action!