The Monk, the Farmer, the Merchant, the Mother: Survival Stories of Rural Cambodia

#290
Title: The Monk, the Farmer, the Merchant, the Mother: Survival Stories of Rural Cambodia
Author: Anne Best
Publisher:  Friends Economic Development Association
Year: 2005
172 pages

A collection of short life histories from four older Cambodians from the rural community of Ksach Poy near Battambang. As the introduction points out, these narrators are not Cambodian emigrees, but some of the few members of earlier generations who lived through the French colonial period, Cambodia's independence, and the Khmer Rouge genocide. They tell a story of life and survival that is differently nuanced than that of refugees--most notably, they describe what life was like after the Khmer Rouge were defeated by the Vietnamese. Purchased at Monument Books in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Proceeds support a community center. Read with Bhavia Wagner's Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia for more short life narratives by Cambodians.