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Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji
Strap yourself in for a wild ride!
"Dodging Machetes" is sometimes dramatic and thrilling, other times flat-out funny. And it's always compelling!
Will Lutwick, a quirky misfit, gets an MBA at 22, but soon realizes he and the American corporate world are a horrid mismatch. He joins the Peace Corps and is sent to the Fiji Islands, the quintessential tropical paradise. Will finds himself attracted to prohibited pulchritude when Rani Gupta, a beautiful, rebellious 20-year-old from a traditional Hindu family, begins working in his office. Dating is taboo in Fiji's large Indian community, and an interracial couple would be unprecedented. But Rani and Will soon discover their mutual attraction impossible to resist. Their liaison is clandestine, but word gets out, and a cultural firestorm engulfs Rani's community. The two lovers are under constant threat of attack, and violence ensues. Will must confront his personal demons about courage and commitment, while Rani is treated like a pariah by her people. Will the besieged lovers stay together, or will a hostile world tear them apart?
In between the dramatic scenes, this seriocomic memoir is savvy and often hilarious. Lutwick deliciously skewers his own behavior and satirizes the people, practices, and protocols he encounters in Fiji and in backstory about his youth.
Will Lutwick has woven his provocative insight with the dramatic events of a singular, but timeless, forbidden-love story. The result is "Dodging Machetes"--a story-driven page-turner from an exceptional writer.
"Dodging Machetes" is sometimes dramatic and thrilling, other times flat-out funny. And it's always compelling!
Will Lutwick, a quirky misfit, gets an MBA at 22, but soon realizes he and the American corporate world are a horrid mismatch. He joins the Peace Corps and is sent to the Fiji Islands, the quintessential tropical paradise. Will finds himself attracted to prohibited pulchritude when Rani Gupta, a beautiful, rebellious 20-year-old from a traditional Hindu family, begins working in his office. Dating is taboo in Fiji's large Indian community, and an interracial couple would be unprecedented. But Rani and Will soon discover their mutual attraction impossible to resist. Their liaison is clandestine, but word gets out, and a cultural firestorm engulfs Rani's community. The two lovers are under constant threat of attack, and violence ensues. Will must confront his personal demons about courage and commitment, while Rani is treated like a pariah by her people. Will the besieged lovers stay together, or will a hostile world tear them apart?
In between the dramatic scenes, this seriocomic memoir is savvy and often hilarious. Lutwick deliciously skewers his own behavior and satirizes the people, practices, and protocols he encounters in Fiji and in backstory about his youth.
Will Lutwick has woven his provocative insight with the dramatic events of a singular, but timeless, forbidden-love story. The result is "Dodging Machetes"--a story-driven page-turner from an exceptional writer.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
266 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2012
About the author
Will Lutwick
1 book3 followersWill Lutwick is the author of recently-released and already-acclaimed memoir, "Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji." He has degrees from Duke University and the University of Michigan. After completion of his Peace Corps service, he returned to the United States where he has had a long and successful career in marketing, financial administration, and business systems design. He lives in San Francisco with his wife.
“Lutwick's memoir is a fun romp through the tropics, featuring forbidden love and outrageous cross-cultural miscommunications. Part 'South Pacific' and part adventure comedy, Lutwick’s book is all heart. I cheered for him every step of the way.”
--- Julia Scheeres (New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of "Jesus Land" and "A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown")
"Written with episodic, fast paced chapters it is intriguing. Once I started, I could not stop and yet, found myself thinking about his story and its themes long after the highlighted passages began to fade . . . If you enjoy a roller-coaster memoir, you’ll love Dodging Machetes. It will probably win awards."
--- Lawrence F. Lihosit, author of ten books including the bible for writing Peace Corps memoirs, "Peace Corps Experience: Write and Publish Your Memoir,"
“Lutwick's memoir is a fun romp through the tropics, featuring forbidden love and outrageous cross-cultural miscommunications. Part 'South Pacific' and part adventure comedy, Lutwick’s book is all heart. I cheered for him every step of the way.”
--- Julia Scheeres (New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of "Jesus Land" and "A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown")
"Written with episodic, fast paced chapters it is intriguing. Once I started, I could not stop and yet, found myself thinking about his story and its themes long after the highlighted passages began to fade . . . If you enjoy a roller-coaster memoir, you’ll love Dodging Machetes. It will probably win awards."
--- Lawrence F. Lihosit, author of ten books including the bible for writing Peace Corps memoirs, "Peace Corps Experience: Write and Publish Your Memoir,"
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 26, 2012
As the author, I'm a tad biased about Dodging Machetes, so for my review I'll let others do the critiquing. I've already quoted the professional critics' review highlights on the book's page, so for this review I'll let the reader reviews at Amazon choose the number of stars. Of the twenty reviews there at this writing, nineteen of the them rate the book five stars and the other one rates it four stars, so I'll go with the majority.
There are two kinds of comments that show up the most in those reader reviews. The first is that Dodging Machetes is crying out to be made into a movie and I hope that someone from Hollywood or Bollywood is reading this and will pick up on that sentiment. The second prominent comment is that the book is addictive. Readers report reading it in a day or two, ceasing all activities except essential bodily functions...during which they continue reading. Then they finish the book wanting more, more, more, while their bodies go into withdrawal. OK---I got a bit carried away there, but you get the idea---they say it's a page turner.
I appreciate your reading this review and considering Dodging Machetes
For more information about Dodging Machetes please check the following links:
Dodging Machetes Amazon print book page
Dodging Machetes Amazon Kindle book page
Dodging Machetes Facebook page
Will Lutwick’s Website
There are two kinds of comments that show up the most in those reader reviews. The first is that Dodging Machetes is crying out to be made into a movie and I hope that someone from Hollywood or Bollywood is reading this and will pick up on that sentiment. The second prominent comment is that the book is addictive. Readers report reading it in a day or two, ceasing all activities except essential bodily functions...during which they continue reading. Then they finish the book wanting more, more, more, while their bodies go into withdrawal. OK---I got a bit carried away there, but you get the idea---they say it's a page turner.
I appreciate your reading this review and considering Dodging Machetes
For more information about Dodging Machetes please check the following links:
Dodging Machetes Amazon print book page
Dodging Machetes Amazon Kindle book page
Dodging Machetes Facebook page
Will Lutwick’s Website
December 8, 2022
This wasn’t at all what I expected and it didn’t deliver what I had hoped to find out from it, namely an insight into Fijian culture, albeit one from the late sixties and early seventies. As becomes clear in the course of the book, Will Lutwick went to Fiji for the American Peace Corps, but he had minimal contact with local people because he had a predominantly office job in a town. Most other Peace Corps volunteers were out in the field, living like the locals and working on educational, agricultural and healthcare projects. Lutwick was prepared to do this too, but was allocated an entirely different sort of job.
When a beautiful young Hindu woman started to work in his office, Lutwick was captivated and decided to get to know her better. The rest of the book is mostly about their relationship, which was considered taboo by the local Indian community and led to various confrontations. The main issue is whether they can weather the not inconsiderable storms or if they are doomed from the start.
When Lutwick was in Fiji, the Hindus had just tipped over into the majority over the Melanesian Fijians and the minority ‘Europeans’, which includes British, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, etc. The only thing he describes about the original Fijian culnture is a brief visit to a Peace Corps friend in a village, where a feast is organised in their honour. In that very short episode he introduced their huts, pit barbecuing and kava drinking. Last year I read James Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific and he described it much better. Likewise the potted history both authors gave. But it’s not really fair to compare Michener with someone who is writing a memoir of part of his life, especially not when written in later life, remembering incidents long ago. After the initial toe-curling descriptions of his love life, I eventually warmed to the story and wanted to read on to see what happened. Did Lutwick get the girl? Was he drafted to the US military and sent to fight in Vietnam? Was he chased with machetes? You’ll have to read the book to find out. But be warned, there’s also a lot of dad humour in this book. And the only cultish behaviour comes from ha descriptions of American college life.
When a beautiful young Hindu woman started to work in his office, Lutwick was captivated and decided to get to know her better. The rest of the book is mostly about their relationship, which was considered taboo by the local Indian community and led to various confrontations. The main issue is whether they can weather the not inconsiderable storms or if they are doomed from the start.
When Lutwick was in Fiji, the Hindus had just tipped over into the majority over the Melanesian Fijians and the minority ‘Europeans’, which includes British, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, etc. The only thing he describes about the original Fijian culnture is a brief visit to a Peace Corps friend in a village, where a feast is organised in their honour. In that very short episode he introduced their huts, pit barbecuing and kava drinking. Last year I read James Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific and he described it much better. Likewise the potted history both authors gave. But it’s not really fair to compare Michener with someone who is writing a memoir of part of his life, especially not when written in later life, remembering incidents long ago. After the initial toe-curling descriptions of his love life, I eventually warmed to the story and wanted to read on to see what happened. Did Lutwick get the girl? Was he drafted to the US military and sent to fight in Vietnam? Was he chased with machetes? You’ll have to read the book to find out. But be warned, there’s also a lot of dad humour in this book. And the only cultish behaviour comes from ha descriptions of American college life.
June 15, 2012
Reviewed by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras, 1975-1977)
Mr. Lutwick has succeeded in creating an entertaining and thought provoking Peace Corps memoir. This is a fine example of what a memoir can be for those willing to invest in writing rather than type-writing. Although ostensibly a love story, the author explores military conscription, discrimination and guilt. Written with episodic, fast paced chapters it is intriguing. Once I started, I could not stop and yet, found myself thinking about his story and its themes long after the highlighted passages began to fade.
Twenty-two year old Lutwick arrived in Fiji in November, 1968, part of the third group of volunteers. The program had begun only eleven months before, the same month that the tone of the Vietnam War changed and the anti-war movement became more vocal. For younger readers, North Vietnam began a major offensive (the Tet Offensive) in the south, attacking more than 100 towns, cities and American military bases. Although the attacks were smothered, their early successes surprised and angered many. It also stimulated an intense national introspection about the war.
Lutwick (and all your American men between the ages of 18 ½ and 25) was eligible for military conscription (the draft). Military service could be deferred for those in college or serving in the Peace Corps. This policy resulted in social tension since both deferments were not accessible to the majority. Local draft boards around the nation began to reconsider the Peace Corps deferment. In 1967, volunteers in Honduras complained that of the 90 males serving, two had received a Final Induction Notice and two others a Preliminary Induction Notice within one month. All four expected to be recalled home and immediately pressed into military service. Jane Albritton (series editor for Peace Corps at 50) recalled that during the same period a volunteer finishing Peace Corps service in India was intercepted and arrested in Hawaii while on his way home. He was consequently pressed into military service. Lutwick expected a similar fate. A male volunteer in Fiji’s first group of volunteers had his draft deferment revoked, was recalled to the United States, drafted, trained and sent to Vietnam where he died.
Two important things happened during 1969 that altered Lutwick’s fate: the inception of a draft lottery system and meeting a beautiful Indian woman in Fiji. The lottery system consisted of picking dates. The armed forces only needed a fraction. For instance, in 1969 of the 365 days they expected to draft those born on the first 195 days chosen at random. Lutwick’s birthday was chosen as the 149th pick “so barring the sudden cessation of what had become a military quagmire, I was a goner,” he explained. About the same time, he switched sites and jobs, meeting a ravishingly beautiful young Indian woman at work. His Fijian boss advised him to “stay away, stay as far away as you can possibly get, from the Indian girls.” An adherent to Woody Guthrie’s hate for signs (except for the side that don’t say nothin’), Lutwick began to woo the beauty.
Indian immigrants in Fiji represented the majority of the population. They practiced arranged marriages and honor killings for scoffers. Lutwick was intimately aware of this. During his first year of service, he lived in a bachelor dormitory, cleaned by a single thirtyish Indian woman. After being caught making love with a married construction worker who boarded there, they were both found hanged in her room. Fellow bachelors at the dormitory laughed and explained that “The whore was lucky they let her go out the easy way.” Unfortunately, Lutwick’s genes were jumping after he met Rani and biology trumped common sense.
Lutwick explains that as an orphaned American of the Jewish faith, he understood discrimination. However, he underestimated its ferocity in this foreign land. Rani’s brother beat her. Her parents advised her to stop seeing the Foreign Devil. On the streets, she was called a “whore.” During a trip to the beach, Lutwick and Rani were nearly caught by a group of hooligans armed with machetes. Finally, her family planned her kidnapping and forced marriage to an Indian. The ironic part is that the Fijian Indian community did not like him because of their own mores which had little to do with him per se. For example, “They thought Judaism was a type of Islam” since “both religions are from the same part of the world, so they must be very similar.” Lutwick was just another white face and not one of them. A close Fijian friend advised him that there were two viable alternatives; to “end the relationship, which would probably be best…or, marry her.” You will have to read this superb book to find out which of the two he chose and after, whether he was drafted.
Aside from the great storytelling, I appreciated how he interspersed his adventure tale with descriptions of the Peace Corps experience between 1968 and 1970. He touches on important topics like the Nixon Administration’s efforts to eliminate the Corps, attrition which (in his group) was 43% by the reporting date and obviously much higher two years hence, the misdiagnosis by psychiatrists and possibly, the lack of volunteer supervision. Peace Corps Fiji began in 1968 and included 250 volunteers within two years. Apparently, it suffered from growing pains and it was common to find volunteers with too much time on their hands. Joseph Blanchford addressed this in 1969 with his New Directions plan- placing volunteers more directly under the auspices of their host countries and recruiting specialists instead of generalists. Blanchford also minimized the use of psychiatric evaluation during training the following year.
If you enjoy a roller-coaster memoir, you’ll love Dodging Machetes. It will probably win awards. Five stars.
Lawrence F. Lihosit, author of ten books, has been very active with the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer community, offering writing workshops, writing book reviews and articles as well as championing the creation of a permanent Peace Corps Experience collection at the Library of Congress. Peace Corps Chronology; 1961-2010 was nominated for the 2010 Peace Corps Writer’s Special Publisher Award and South of the Frontera; A Peace Corps Memoir received a commendation from U.S. Congressman John Garamendi (CA, 10th District).His latest book, Peace Corps Experience: Write and Publish Your Memoir, has been well received.
Mr. Lutwick has succeeded in creating an entertaining and thought provoking Peace Corps memoir. This is a fine example of what a memoir can be for those willing to invest in writing rather than type-writing. Although ostensibly a love story, the author explores military conscription, discrimination and guilt. Written with episodic, fast paced chapters it is intriguing. Once I started, I could not stop and yet, found myself thinking about his story and its themes long after the highlighted passages began to fade.
Twenty-two year old Lutwick arrived in Fiji in November, 1968, part of the third group of volunteers. The program had begun only eleven months before, the same month that the tone of the Vietnam War changed and the anti-war movement became more vocal. For younger readers, North Vietnam began a major offensive (the Tet Offensive) in the south, attacking more than 100 towns, cities and American military bases. Although the attacks were smothered, their early successes surprised and angered many. It also stimulated an intense national introspection about the war.
Lutwick (and all your American men between the ages of 18 ½ and 25) was eligible for military conscription (the draft). Military service could be deferred for those in college or serving in the Peace Corps. This policy resulted in social tension since both deferments were not accessible to the majority. Local draft boards around the nation began to reconsider the Peace Corps deferment. In 1967, volunteers in Honduras complained that of the 90 males serving, two had received a Final Induction Notice and two others a Preliminary Induction Notice within one month. All four expected to be recalled home and immediately pressed into military service. Jane Albritton (series editor for Peace Corps at 50) recalled that during the same period a volunteer finishing Peace Corps service in India was intercepted and arrested in Hawaii while on his way home. He was consequently pressed into military service. Lutwick expected a similar fate. A male volunteer in Fiji’s first group of volunteers had his draft deferment revoked, was recalled to the United States, drafted, trained and sent to Vietnam where he died.
Two important things happened during 1969 that altered Lutwick’s fate: the inception of a draft lottery system and meeting a beautiful Indian woman in Fiji. The lottery system consisted of picking dates. The armed forces only needed a fraction. For instance, in 1969 of the 365 days they expected to draft those born on the first 195 days chosen at random. Lutwick’s birthday was chosen as the 149th pick “so barring the sudden cessation of what had become a military quagmire, I was a goner,” he explained. About the same time, he switched sites and jobs, meeting a ravishingly beautiful young Indian woman at work. His Fijian boss advised him to “stay away, stay as far away as you can possibly get, from the Indian girls.” An adherent to Woody Guthrie’s hate for signs (except for the side that don’t say nothin’), Lutwick began to woo the beauty.
Indian immigrants in Fiji represented the majority of the population. They practiced arranged marriages and honor killings for scoffers. Lutwick was intimately aware of this. During his first year of service, he lived in a bachelor dormitory, cleaned by a single thirtyish Indian woman. After being caught making love with a married construction worker who boarded there, they were both found hanged in her room. Fellow bachelors at the dormitory laughed and explained that “The whore was lucky they let her go out the easy way.” Unfortunately, Lutwick’s genes were jumping after he met Rani and biology trumped common sense.
Lutwick explains that as an orphaned American of the Jewish faith, he understood discrimination. However, he underestimated its ferocity in this foreign land. Rani’s brother beat her. Her parents advised her to stop seeing the Foreign Devil. On the streets, she was called a “whore.” During a trip to the beach, Lutwick and Rani were nearly caught by a group of hooligans armed with machetes. Finally, her family planned her kidnapping and forced marriage to an Indian. The ironic part is that the Fijian Indian community did not like him because of their own mores which had little to do with him per se. For example, “They thought Judaism was a type of Islam” since “both religions are from the same part of the world, so they must be very similar.” Lutwick was just another white face and not one of them. A close Fijian friend advised him that there were two viable alternatives; to “end the relationship, which would probably be best…or, marry her.” You will have to read this superb book to find out which of the two he chose and after, whether he was drafted.
Aside from the great storytelling, I appreciated how he interspersed his adventure tale with descriptions of the Peace Corps experience between 1968 and 1970. He touches on important topics like the Nixon Administration’s efforts to eliminate the Corps, attrition which (in his group) was 43% by the reporting date and obviously much higher two years hence, the misdiagnosis by psychiatrists and possibly, the lack of volunteer supervision. Peace Corps Fiji began in 1968 and included 250 volunteers within two years. Apparently, it suffered from growing pains and it was common to find volunteers with too much time on their hands. Joseph Blanchford addressed this in 1969 with his New Directions plan- placing volunteers more directly under the auspices of their host countries and recruiting specialists instead of generalists. Blanchford also minimized the use of psychiatric evaluation during training the following year.
If you enjoy a roller-coaster memoir, you’ll love Dodging Machetes. It will probably win awards. Five stars.
Lawrence F. Lihosit, author of ten books, has been very active with the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer community, offering writing workshops, writing book reviews and articles as well as championing the creation of a permanent Peace Corps Experience collection at the Library of Congress. Peace Corps Chronology; 1961-2010 was nominated for the 2010 Peace Corps Writer’s Special Publisher Award and South of the Frontera; A Peace Corps Memoir received a commendation from U.S. Congressman John Garamendi (CA, 10th District).His latest book, Peace Corps Experience: Write and Publish Your Memoir, has been well received.
August 17, 2012
True love is hard to find. In a world of billions of people, is there really only one person for you? Will Lutwick was just an average guy who joined the Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960s. He worked in an office in the island nation of Fiji when it hit him. A beautiful Hindu woman named Rani entered his life, and nothing will be the same again. What follows is an adventure of two young lovers as they face both interracial hate and their own personal demons. The book is an eye-opening story about love, loss, and discrimination.
This is a romantic tale of a man looking back on his life. There is such a great scene of nostalgia and regret in every page, which I love. It adds a sense of realism to the book. Not only is this a exciting memoir, but it's a great modern day Romeo and Juliet tale. You can tell that this book was a passionate labor of love. Each page is as addicting as the last, with great emotional elements driving the story. Each person in the book is multi-layered and wonderfully written. Rani was my favorite, and it is easy to see why Will is so intoxicated with her. I also loved the inner conflict that Will faces and how he struggles to make some really hard choices. This is a great book for those looking for a well-rounded love story with a few laughs and a lot of heart.
*Originally published for San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review*
This is a romantic tale of a man looking back on his life. There is such a great scene of nostalgia and regret in every page, which I love. It adds a sense of realism to the book. Not only is this a exciting memoir, but it's a great modern day Romeo and Juliet tale. You can tell that this book was a passionate labor of love. Each page is as addicting as the last, with great emotional elements driving the story. Each person in the book is multi-layered and wonderfully written. Rani was my favorite, and it is easy to see why Will is so intoxicated with her. I also loved the inner conflict that Will faces and how he struggles to make some really hard choices. This is a great book for those looking for a well-rounded love story with a few laughs and a lot of heart.
*Originally published for San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review*
June 22, 2013
Eh. I finished it because I began it, but I don't think I'd have liked the guy, and he isn't a writer. He did effectively communicate the zeitgeist of that era in regards to the Vietnam War, but other than that, I think that even the book jacket could have been better written to accurately portray what the book would be about. Furthermore, between where the book ends and where the acknowledgements begin there is a huge gap, and one can only guess at the (divorce and) life in between.
March 16, 2015
I've now read 4 published memoirs by former Peace Corps Volunteers in Fiji, and this was the only one that had a good story to tell that would actually be of interest to people who aren't already his friends/family. I liked his self-deprecating writing style and enjoyed seeing how much of love and romance in Fiji hasn't changed since then (I live/d in Suva from 2012-2015, though I am not a PCV). I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Will and Rani and wanted their romance to work out, even though young Will was frequently a putz. :-)
I think the story would be entertaining to people who don't have a connection to Fiji or who have never loved someone from a culture where you are not supposed to date outside of your group. But Will, I'm docking you a star for not letting us know what happened to Rani after the events in the book. I'm assuming the romance just ran its course, but I'd have loved an epilogue about what she's up to now. Married? kids? still in the US? or are you saving that for a sequel?
I think the story would be entertaining to people who don't have a connection to Fiji or who have never loved someone from a culture where you are not supposed to date outside of your group. But Will, I'm docking you a star for not letting us know what happened to Rani after the events in the book. I'm assuming the romance just ran its course, but I'd have loved an epilogue about what she's up to now. Married? kids? still in the US? or are you saving that for a sequel?
February 11, 2013
A quick enjoyable read about forbidden romance on Fiji in the 1970s. The story is told with an appealing self-deprecating wit.
June 1, 2016
Expected more about the Peace Corps but the majority of the book was about the romantic fling. Still I found myself interested. A good quick story. Really wanted a picture of Rani.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews