Book Review: As Large As Your Spirit

As Large as Your Spirit: A Reverse Refugee Memoir by Joel David Bond looks at Joel's life during a five-month forced stay on a Greek Island during the pandemic. Although at first glance, being stranded on a Greek Island sounds idyllic, readers soon realize that being trapped anywhere against your wishes is difficult.

Though the setting is beautiful, Joel finds himself without friends, without access to funds, and with limited access to the internet during a time when governments limited a person's ability to travel or even interact outside their own home. In essence, Joel found himself a refugee, but one wishing to go back to the east while most refugees were leaving the east to head west.
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The book is about finding a place to call home - both physically and within oneself. It showcases the plight of refugees, unlike Joel, who had to flee from their home and must now find ways to make new lands their own. We even get a peek at Roma's, people who, though they live in a country, are not accepted as true citizens.

This is a great memoir that will make you think about what it means to be a refugee and what you can do to eliminate your own biases. Great read.

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