Book of the Week

Under a Grudging Sun
by Alex Webb

In Under a Grudging Sun, Alex Webb focuses on "sad and beguiling Haiti" during the brief period after the departure of its dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier. Webb had made several trips to Haiti before Duvalier left, but when he first returned during "Haiti Libere," he was struck by the new sense of freedom and openness among the people. Here is the photographic story of that time, when some of the poorest, most oppressed people in the Western Hemisphere had hope for democratic reforms. And here also is the dashing of that hope and the horrifying and violent chaos that enveloped Haiti.

In all the different types of work I’ve done—editorial, travel, advertising—they’ve all had the same engine driving them, which is that I can’t think of anything that’s better than what happens in real life.

Burt Glinn