This dark contemporary tale of discovery works as an antidote to the nostalgia of Van der Post's classic Lost World of the Kalahari. Isaacson, a journalist and travel writer raised with tales of Southern Africa and the San, documents the poverty, social disruption and struggle of a people who have been displaced from their land. The tale revolves around Dawid Kruiper, a traditional Xhomani Bushmen leader and healer, who introduces the author to ancient notions of power, wisdom, healing and strength. Without losing site of his main goal of reporting on the predicament of the Bushmen across their original lands, Isaacson embarks on his own spiritual quest.  (SAF135, $13.00)