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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Alexandra Fuller and 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'

    Alexandra Fuller had an extremely unconventional childhood in southern Africa, which she described vividly in her first bestselling memoir, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight . A civil war raged, tropical diseases were common, dangerous hippos lurked in nearby waters, and her family had more than its fair share of tragedy.

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    By Madeleine Brand • Jul 3, 2015 • 1 min read

    Alexandra Fuller had an extremely unconventional childhood in southern Africa, which she described vividly in her first bestselling memoir, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight. A civil war raged, tropical diseases were common, dangerous hippos lurked in nearby waters, and her family had more than its fair share of tragedy. So when a dashing American river guide arrives on the scene and they fall in love, Alexandra believes he will save her from the unrelenting chaos of her African life. And he does -- until their marriage begins to fall apart. She chronicles how things disintegrated in her new memoir, Leaving Before the Rains Come.

    The full episode

    4 of 4
    Press Play Replay: Graffiti in National Parks, and the Path of Levitated Mass
    1. 0:00Purifoy at LACMA
    2. 12:09The Path of Levitated Mass
    3. 26:08Graffiti in National Parks
    4. 37:44Alexandra Fuller and 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'You’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Matt Holzman

      Producer, 'The Document'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jolie Myers

      Managing Producer, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Alexandra Fuller

      author, 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'

      News

    The full episode

    4 of 4
    Press Play Replay: Graffiti in National Parks, and the Path of Levitated Mass
    1. 0:00Purifoy at LACMA
    2. 12:09The Path of Levitated Mass
    3. 26:08Graffiti in National Parks
    4. 37:44Alexandra Fuller and 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'You’re reading this
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand