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Whiteman: A Gripping Literary Novel Set in Africa – Passion, Heroism, and War in Ivory Coast
In an Ivory Coast village where Christians and Muslims are squaring off for war, against a backdrop of bloody conflict and vibrant African life, Jack Diaz—an American relief worker—and Mamadou, his village guardian, learn that hate knows no color and that true heroism waits where we least expect it.
During lulls in the violence, Jack learns the cycles of Africa—of hunting in the rain forest, cultivating the yam, and navigating the nuances of the language; of witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. Despite the omnipresence of AIDS, he courts a stunning Peul girl, meets his neighbor's wife in the darkened forest, and desperately pursues the village flirt. Still, Jack spends many nights alone in his hut, longing for love in a place where his skin color excludes him.
Brimming with dangerous passions and the pressures of life in a time of war, Whiteman is a stunning debut and a tale of desire, isolation, humor, action, and fear.
During lulls in the violence, Jack learns the cycles of Africa—of hunting in the rain forest, cultivating the yam, and navigating the nuances of the language; of witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. Despite the omnipresence of AIDS, he courts a stunning Peul girl, meets his neighbor's wife in the darkened forest, and desperately pursues the village flirt. Still, Jack spends many nights alone in his hut, longing for love in a place where his skin color excludes him.
Brimming with dangerous passions and the pressures of life in a time of war, Whiteman is a stunning debut and a tale of desire, isolation, humor, action, and fear.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
May 8, 2015
Tony D'Souza served three years with the Peace Corp, where he was a rural AIDS educator, witnessing the outbreak of civil war in Ivory Coast. It is from these experiences he pulled together twelve interconnected stories about the fictional character Jack/Jacques Diaz aka Adama Diamande aka Whiteman.
I didn't expect much from this book, and selected it simply because it won the original Florida Book Award. I read this on my kindle, thankfully, because I spent an awful lot of time googling phrases, locations, and the history of Ivory Coast.
Whiteman is told from the white man's perspective. Diaz is sent to Tegeso, a Muslim village in the bush hear Seguela, Cote d'Ivoire as a representative of Portable Water International. He learns to farm; he falls in love; he gets engaged; he rescues dogs; he becomes a master hunter; he gets tricked, deceived, and one-upped; he teaches school; he learns to wear a boubous; he paints; and he worries his mother.
I didn't necessarily like Jacques/Adama. He does some pretty foolish things; he does some arrogantly American things. He's a twenty-something male, and spends an awful lot of time in bed with women̶̶—not the best example from the AIDS educator. The lessons he learned, and the stories he has to share helped me overlook all of these indiscretions.
I didn't expect much from this book, and selected it simply because it won the original Florida Book Award. I read this on my kindle, thankfully, because I spent an awful lot of time googling phrases, locations, and the history of Ivory Coast.
Whiteman is told from the white man's perspective. Diaz is sent to Tegeso, a Muslim village in the bush hear Seguela, Cote d'Ivoire as a representative of Portable Water International. He learns to farm; he falls in love; he gets engaged; he rescues dogs; he becomes a master hunter; he gets tricked, deceived, and one-upped; he teaches school; he learns to wear a boubous; he paints; and he worries his mother.
I didn't necessarily like Jacques/Adama. He does some pretty foolish things; he does some arrogantly American things. He's a twenty-something male, and spends an awful lot of time in bed with women̶̶—not the best example from the AIDS educator. The lessons he learned, and the stories he has to share helped me overlook all of these indiscretions.
November 6, 2012
The main character is a middle class white guy who goes off to work in the peace corp (though he doesn't call it that) and finds out that the peace corps is useless so he just takes up with the local women. You end up regarding the main character as kind of your typical bleeding heart blowhard, which would be fine except that I think the author wants you to feel sympathy for him sometimes and wants you to acknowledge his learned wisdom other times. But all I came away with was a main character who is slightly annoying (and just wants to have sex with women he exoticizes) but isn't self aware enough recognize why he's being annoying. If you've ever traveled overseas, this book will remind you of the sort of bloviating know-it-alls that populate hostiles and think they have the world all sussed out. Two stars for being a total 'meh' book.
September 4, 2013
Interesting book with fascinating viewpoints. Although it doesn't follow the traditional timeline of most books, it seems to work. However, either the author was very educated in what he was writing about or he must have experienced it himself. Sometimes the book read as if it was some sort of autobiographical story.
My favourite chapter revolved around Wu, and I believe that was the best written part of the entire book. His story was interesting and real, and it made me want to know more.
Despite the unique viewpoint, I didn't have that need to keep reading and keep going. When I put the book down, I didn't feel compelled to pick it right back up, which is why I gave it three stars.
The relationships in this book are quite real, although it is a quick read. I feel like it could have been better with more detail and longer story-lines. Although the man is there for 3 years, it feels sometimes as if he goes from girl-to-girl, even though that's not the case at all.
Overall, a good and unique book and is a quick read if you're looking for something to read in a day or a couple of days.
My favourite chapter revolved around Wu, and I believe that was the best written part of the entire book. His story was interesting and real, and it made me want to know more.
Despite the unique viewpoint, I didn't have that need to keep reading and keep going. When I put the book down, I didn't feel compelled to pick it right back up, which is why I gave it three stars.
The relationships in this book are quite real, although it is a quick read. I feel like it could have been better with more detail and longer story-lines. Although the man is there for 3 years, it feels sometimes as if he goes from girl-to-girl, even though that's not the case at all.
Overall, a good and unique book and is a quick read if you're looking for something to read in a day or a couple of days.
November 22, 2009
This book is raw, interesting, tragic, beautiful, and funny.
Brief summary: Young hopeful man working for an American humanitarian NGO set to bring clean water to his village in Africa. He fails miserably at bringing water to his village but evolves immensely in his understanding of humanity.
Especially if you are in the helping profession, this book reminds us that it isn't the large projects we take on. Rather our vulnerability and desire to help is half the battle. And in the end, some things may never change. Some problems are far too big for the few.
Brief summary: Young hopeful man working for an American humanitarian NGO set to bring clean water to his village in Africa. He fails miserably at bringing water to his village but evolves immensely in his understanding of humanity.
Especially if you are in the helping profession, this book reminds us that it isn't the large projects we take on. Rather our vulnerability and desire to help is half the battle. And in the end, some things may never change. Some problems are far too big for the few.
February 10, 2010
makes me so excited to leave for the peace corps!
January 22, 2019
This fictional story (though told as if it was non-fiction) about a man named Jack who is on a mission trip to bring water to the Ivory Coast area of Africa. This is at a time where Christians and Muslims are at war, and the area is very dangerous. Jack - a white man from America - sticks out like a sore thumb right from the beginning, but he quickly becomes loved by the people in his village. He works hard to learn the language and gain the respect of his community.
During his years in the village Jack learns to live on his meager earnings, hunt, and survive the jungle. He lives among those who believe in witchcraft and the power of telling stories. He falls in love with African girls over and over. And in the end, when it is time for him to head home, he is afraid to leave.
This story is my first read of this year that I am just not sure it should have a spot on my shelf. It is a fine story - entertaining for the most part, and I loved some of the stories that were told. I also enjoyed the types of witchcraft that were described, and what a lot of the people in the village believed about white men. It is a little vulgar in areas (quite a bit of sex) but I am a bit of a prude when it comes to that in a book, so it might not bother you. I felt it a little careless on the part of our main character whom I felt should know better. But...who am I to judge.
If you are looking for a Ivory Coast novel in a Read The World challenge (or just for the heck of it), you might want to try this one. I was able to borrow it from my local library's ebook catalog, so no harm done.
During his years in the village Jack learns to live on his meager earnings, hunt, and survive the jungle. He lives among those who believe in witchcraft and the power of telling stories. He falls in love with African girls over and over. And in the end, when it is time for him to head home, he is afraid to leave.
This story is my first read of this year that I am just not sure it should have a spot on my shelf. It is a fine story - entertaining for the most part, and I loved some of the stories that were told. I also enjoyed the types of witchcraft that were described, and what a lot of the people in the village believed about white men. It is a little vulgar in areas (quite a bit of sex) but I am a bit of a prude when it comes to that in a book, so it might not bother you. I felt it a little careless on the part of our main character whom I felt should know better. But...who am I to judge.
If you are looking for a Ivory Coast novel in a Read The World challenge (or just for the heck of it), you might want to try this one. I was able to borrow it from my local library's ebook catalog, so no harm done.
February 26, 2023
Three-line review: Christians and Muslims in Ivory Coast are on the brink of war, and American volunteer Jack Diaz is taking it all in from his small village that feels far removed from the chaos. Sent to the village to manage a water project, Jack instead becomes fully ensconced in local life -- falling in love with women, smoking with the young men, tending to a farm, and otherwise living simply -- all while also navigating the reality that he is a white man with privilege who can leave at any time. This is a work of fiction written without a plot and no cohesive story; instead, it's a series of snapshots from Jack's time living in Ivory Coast.
March 22, 2018
Tony is an exceptional storyteller and has a vibrant ability to paint scenes. I liked how he made Jack flawed and believable. My only issue was, and he knows this, I can do without the graphic sex and toilet talk. Other than that, I loved the journey he took me on across this alluring land I knew not existed except on a map.
December 29, 2021
Adama (the main character) is possibly the least likeable character in the book, even though he’s the protagonist. The relationships he forms with those around him, however, are beautiful and the stories told are told with so much description and detail. The writing style - essentially a collection of short stories - makes the book so easy to follow. Although, a few parts made me cringe.
November 8, 2018
This book was so alive and vibrant and felt so real that more than once I checked to make sure it wasn't a memoir.
January 15, 2021
Would have been much better with a plot. But breathtaking nevertheless.
August 29, 2010
Now then! If Mr Morrison wanted to call his real life account, The Black Nile: One Man's Amazing Journey Through Peace and War on the World's Longest River, an "Amazing Journey" perhaps he should have picked up this work of fiction to get an idea about what an amazing journey is really about.
This was a great book. I was even more impressed because during my Peace Corps application, I was assigned 'Subsaharan Africa'. Unfortunately I didn't make it through the medical forms (my rbc count during my blood tests were always super low, even after going on Rx iron pills, so they couldn't send me).
I think Jack had too much sex, dangerous sex. I really appreciated the way he took initiative. I'm not trying to continue to rag on Morrison's work, but that was the most recent book I've read with Africa as the subject, and I think Morrison could have taken tips from this (fictional) character. Jack didn't have an attitude of 'let me go help these poor primitive Black people' at ALL. There was a passage were he noted that he'd wish he woke up Black. He was respectful and receptive to ways that weren't his own, he worked very hard to fit in. And it wasn't just a phony 'making the motions', I think if civil unrest hadn't broke out he would have stayed in Africa....
If it were any other author, I probably would have been offended how the Black women slept with Jack as a means to an end, but I wasn't offended. Mariam and Sabina did what they felt they had to do, and with Jack's attitude it didn't seem so much as exploitation, because they did seem to have a connection. I was disappointed with the way Jack abandoned Djamilla.
I also didn't like the end. That hurt me a bit to. It reminded me of the movie The Killing Fields. When things get bad, the Americans board their choppers and fly off. They shove away all the locals they were friends with to save themselves. I know they did it to live, rationally. That's what the group of American volunteers do at the end- they hitch a ride, and push all the locals off the van as they are begging for mercy. That really hurt.
I LOVED this book.
This was a great book. I was even more impressed because during my Peace Corps application, I was assigned 'Subsaharan Africa'. Unfortunately I didn't make it through the medical forms (my rbc count during my blood tests were always super low, even after going on Rx iron pills, so they couldn't send me).
I think Jack had too much sex, dangerous sex. I really appreciated the way he took initiative. I'm not trying to continue to rag on Morrison's work, but that was the most recent book I've read with Africa as the subject, and I think Morrison could have taken tips from this (fictional) character. Jack didn't have an attitude of 'let me go help these poor primitive Black people' at ALL. There was a passage were he noted that he'd wish he woke up Black. He was respectful and receptive to ways that weren't his own, he worked very hard to fit in. And it wasn't just a phony 'making the motions', I think if civil unrest hadn't broke out he would have stayed in Africa....
If it were any other author, I probably would have been offended how the Black women slept with Jack as a means to an end, but I wasn't offended. Mariam and Sabina did what they felt they had to do, and with Jack's attitude it didn't seem so much as exploitation, because they did seem to have a connection. I was disappointed with the way Jack abandoned Djamilla.
I also didn't like the end. That hurt me a bit to. It reminded me of the movie The Killing Fields. When things get bad, the Americans board their choppers and fly off. They shove away all the locals they were friends with to save themselves. I know they did it to live, rationally. That's what the group of American volunteers do at the end- they hitch a ride, and push all the locals off the van as they are begging for mercy. That really hurt.
I LOVED this book.
June 9, 2012
Whiteman is a novel told in the first person voice of an aid worker named Jack Diaz (or Adama Diomande, the name bestowed on him by the Africans), a young idealistic American who goes to Worodougou, a small Muslim village in Ivory Coast, to work for an organization called Potable Water International and to educate the Africans about AIDS. Later on, he found himself coming to terms with life in a different culture and basic necessities. The loneliness and desperation leads Jack Diaz to make some questionable choices. For example, he had sex with a prostitute and his neighbor’s wife and doesn't even use condoms with them. However, he still manages to stay HIV free. He also met a young man named Mamadou who became his village guardian.
Whiteman is definitely a light read that simply describes what could happen when a man finds himself falling in love with people and a place remote to his own experiences. Each chapter in this well-written debut novel by Tony D’Souza can easily stand alone as short stories and the author’s vivid description of life in an African village reads more like a memoir than a novel. Without a doubt, the author has done a great job of putting the reader in the middle of a particular community completely aloof from the modern world.
I admit that even though there are some parts of the story that bores the hell out of me, I still enjoyed reading this novel that I personally classify as a cultural and historical fiction. For someone with no experience living in Africa like me, this is an entertaining and at the same time, an educational read.
Whiteman is definitely a light read that simply describes what could happen when a man finds himself falling in love with people and a place remote to his own experiences. Each chapter in this well-written debut novel by Tony D’Souza can easily stand alone as short stories and the author’s vivid description of life in an African village reads more like a memoir than a novel. Without a doubt, the author has done a great job of putting the reader in the middle of a particular community completely aloof from the modern world.
I admit that even though there are some parts of the story that bores the hell out of me, I still enjoyed reading this novel that I personally classify as a cultural and historical fiction. For someone with no experience living in Africa like me, this is an entertaining and at the same time, an educational read.
April 6, 2011
This book is like one of those rare, perfect albums, where you don't fast forward any of the songs. Each note falls gracefully, at the correct time. Each story was in turns ridiculous, moving, beautiful. I laughed at some of the earlier reviews, which amounted to "This felt too real to be fiction." I have no response to this.
The protagonist is an aid worker, working for an NGO in Ivory Coast, Africa, and his experiences with the futility of what he was doing; he fails miserably at his goal of bringing clean water to his village, but succeeds (?) in other ways. Who can judge. NGO work has been on my mind of late, what good comes of it in actuality, what it does for the worker, what it does for the people one hopes to help.
I didn't feel disjointed at all, reading this book. I thought each story, each character was pitch perfect, the right note in the right place. There was a line that devastated, when the author wrote about a Chinese man the protagonist befriended, who practiced medicine in the nearby village. He had lost his son and his bearings after: "As he showed me the picture under the naked bulb of his room, Wu said in a quiet voice, 'I took him here for his graduation. To sightsee. To celebrate. One child in China. One son. Can you imagine? In a world of rain, one single drop to belong to you.""
I think I love this book.
The protagonist is an aid worker, working for an NGO in Ivory Coast, Africa, and his experiences with the futility of what he was doing; he fails miserably at his goal of bringing clean water to his village, but succeeds (?) in other ways. Who can judge. NGO work has been on my mind of late, what good comes of it in actuality, what it does for the worker, what it does for the people one hopes to help.
I didn't feel disjointed at all, reading this book. I thought each story, each character was pitch perfect, the right note in the right place. There was a line that devastated, when the author wrote about a Chinese man the protagonist befriended, who practiced medicine in the nearby village. He had lost his son and his bearings after: "As he showed me the picture under the naked bulb of his room, Wu said in a quiet voice, 'I took him here for his graduation. To sightsee. To celebrate. One child in China. One son. Can you imagine? In a world of rain, one single drop to belong to you.""
I think I love this book.
October 24, 2011
Eye opening and was heartwarming at the same time. This book is simply made and was an easy read. I really had an enjoyable time with this considering the idea that the setting mainly took place in Africa and represented everything about it, from its culture to its customs, beliefs and the people's way of life.I'm a fan of Africa myself and I'm glad it's one of the books that I chose to buy in a thrift store. Thing is, this is not easy to appreciate especially if you are not in a healthcare profession or some sort of a public service provider, but I did enjoy this, since I'm in the field of Nursing and had a background dealing with the marginalized group. and I admire Jack the whiteman the most, he has a selfless, endearing passion, and was a genuine humanitarian who is so versatile and was capable to adapt to people and the environment he is far comparable to. I wanted to be like him someday, help people in Africa, and I don't know, change the world. Kidding aside! But it's my dream actually to go to Africa when I finally become a full pledged nurse and an MD too, I'm also going to educate them about AIDS and of course get to know them more, socialize and be friends with them the way Jack did. To end this review, I'm obviously giving this book a 5/5 stars.
February 8, 2016
Whiteman is one of the best books I've read in a long while. It brings to life the experiences of an American relief worker in an African village, in which he strives to become accepted there and live as the Worodougou live, farming corn and yams, hunting francolin and bush pig, giving up all of his Western possessions. Jack Diaz, or as the Africans call him, Adama Diomande, goes through many humiliations and frustrations, finally stumbling toward understanding and acceptance only to be forced to leave the village when war breaks out. Bittersweet and in a way heartbreaking, this novel is alive in the way that it makes you taste fresh killed meat, smell earth and sweat, see the depths of jungle and the poverty of the city, feel the brotherhood that exists between Adama and the village of Tegeso. Like Adama at the end, the reader aches to be able to stay in this world, where things have more meaning, where traditions are not skeletons but rather the very breath of everyday life. Humorous at times, filled with the turmoil of what it means to be human, troubling in its evocations of corruption and injustice that is ignored by the West, and colored by the proverbs and folk beliefs of an African people, Tony D'Souza has crafted here a masterpiece.
July 8, 2010
To be honest, at this moment I don't know what to say about this book. That doesn't mean I wasn't into it or that I didn't like it, because I was and I did.
I loved the main character, this relief worker from America named Jack, but is nicknamed Adama (whiteman), living in the Ivory Coast for 3 years to help those people get clean water. He didn't end up doing that and I guess he didn't feel like he did much for the people. He lived in a village down south, living with the people and though he was white and they were black the more he lived among them the more they accepted him as one of them despite their differences.
I enjoyed the humor that the writer put in and the great people that Jack meets. It was a great book and even though the ending wasn't how I wanted it to end, I still liked it.
I also feel like I learned a bit more about the people of Ivory Coast what they go through, the war and the struggles they face in everyday life yet they still go through with it, well some of them.
I recommed this book to anybody who enjoys book on Africa, it's a good read.
I loved the main character, this relief worker from America named Jack, but is nicknamed Adama (whiteman), living in the Ivory Coast for 3 years to help those people get clean water. He didn't end up doing that and I guess he didn't feel like he did much for the people. He lived in a village down south, living with the people and though he was white and they were black the more he lived among them the more they accepted him as one of them despite their differences.
I enjoyed the humor that the writer put in and the great people that Jack meets. It was a great book and even though the ending wasn't how I wanted it to end, I still liked it.
I also feel like I learned a bit more about the people of Ivory Coast what they go through, the war and the struggles they face in everyday life yet they still go through with it, well some of them.
I recommed this book to anybody who enjoys book on Africa, it's a good read.
December 1, 2010
interesting! i never loss the sense that this was a work of fiction, based on real life experiences. i felt connected to the "stranger in the village syndrome" the main character lived during his tenure in the remote reaches of subsaharan africa. sounds cheesy. well it is cliche in that way. the shift from a foreigner moving staying in a village to him becoming apart of the community makes it a good story. that's why i gave it four stars. there is something missing. not sure if its that was intentional or not....i think the book nicely failed to play into my preconceived notions of what a person in that situation experiences. i doubt that the peace corps would suggest it as recommended reading for those interested in enlisting, but it probably should be. a fiction view into the fictional life you imagine having as a person from a western industrialized country trying to "help" in a community that could possibly be the antithesis of everything you have ever known...it works. the variances in prose works. the subject matter works. the overall composition works. its a good book.
December 30, 2012
This book is awesome, highly entertaining, and very well written. The best thing about Whiteman is it covers major themes of living in Africa without exploiting or being all about them. Yes, it highlights poverty, lack of resources, the frustrations of being an aid worker, the repugnant result of European colonialism, the Muslim v. Christian strife and the basis for it, as well as the hardships of life in a small village. However, the book isn't really about any of these things. That's the backdrop. The book is more about love, friendships, family, respect, and daily life. Normal life. Living in a small village in the Ivory Coast as a foreigner and what that would be like. I enjoyed it, immensely. It was a nice visit to a beautiful, inspirational African country and the adventures of one aid worker and his Ivorian friends. Note to self, don't get caught cheating on your spouse in this small village. The punishment for women? Stuffed chili peppers in your vaj! Ay. There are some hilarious stories in this book and some heartwarming characters. You'll enjoy it.
January 30, 2009
This is the story of a relief worker from Chicago who lives in Africa for several years. He and many others joined an organization dedicated to finding clean drinking water for small African villages. Each is assigned their own small village and each of them fails completely when the funding is cut off after 9/11. The author's excellent narrative brings the reader inside the culture so skillfully. He is brutally honest, exposing some of his really bad behavior, such as the time he falls in love with a beautiful African girl. He courts her graciously and patiently until her father finally agrees to the match, and then he runs away at the last minute, leaving the girl humiliated before the whole village. There is a lot of sadness and frustration in the story, but that seems to be a common thread in stories of this ilk. How can there not be, if the stories are sincere? It's a very engaging book despite the sadness.
August 19, 2007
Peace Corps stints in far off villages often make good fodder for books. Like "Whiteman." Tony D'Souza is a good and honest writer. The opening chapter, when he tells of riots on the streets of Cote D'Ivoire, and slamming the door in a tormented monkey's face, actually was a great metaphor, I thought, for how international workers often deal with Africa's sad realities. When push comes to shove, the international worker retreats to safe gardens. He's not sympathetic, trying to justify rape as the natural order of male-female interactions. The book is well worth reading, though, if just for his chapter on AIDS education in far flung villages, with great examples of the real world challenges and rewards of grassroots health literacy campaigns.
December 1, 2007
This novel seemed too detailed to be based on research and imagination alone; I felt it had to be written by someone with more personal knowledge gained from first-hand experience. The book jacket and acknowledgments didn't give any indication, so I looked up a bio of the author online. Sure enough, he had been a Peace Corps volunteer who spent more than two years with the Dioula, a Muslim people who live in northern Ivory Coast. Just like the protagonist of his book.
This left me wondering how much of Whiteman was autobiographical and how much wasn't. I really have no idea, but it's still a fascinating look at life, culture, and conflicts in a West African country in the 21st century, and a sad commentary on the ability of NGOs and aid workers to have any real impact there.
This left me wondering how much of Whiteman was autobiographical and how much wasn't. I really have no idea, but it's still a fascinating look at life, culture, and conflicts in a West African country in the 21st century, and a sad commentary on the ability of NGOs and aid workers to have any real impact there.
June 29, 2008
I really liked this one by a RPCV author. He can actually write - well. No offense to all the RPCV authors I've read. I like every one for sharing an experience to which I can relate. I liked that Whteman was fiction, though clearly coming from real experience. Somehow, in literature, it captured the experience far better for someone else. I just read a somehow similar memoir and I was left feeling like he didn't quite convey what I wanted to get out of it. This one didn't leave me feeling that way. He never once slipped into that stupid expat bragging (i.e. I've survived a wary and lived in the bush, I'm better than you and we both know it)_ RECOMMENDED.
July 11, 2008
Like D'Souza, I am also a returned Peace Corps volunteer (RPCV) from francophone Africa. Many of the settings and situations he talks about in this book struck a very familiar chord with me - as they probably would with RPCVs from anywhere. If you aren't an RPCV (or other aid worker), you'll probably still find this book interesting at least - I think he's a great writer and the anecdotes he tells are awfully fun to follow. Just keep in mind that the large majority of this is fiction.
D'Souza did, however, have a short fiction piece in the New Yorker a few years back about an incident in an Abidjan hotel, which via the Peace Corps grapevine I've heard is true.
D'Souza did, however, have a short fiction piece in the New Yorker a few years back about an incident in an Abidjan hotel, which via the Peace Corps grapevine I've heard is true.
May 9, 2007
This is a very impressive first book. The writing / style is incredible. The sentences and dialogue flow into each other seemlessly. D'Souza is a very talented writer, and one who I think will be generating national attention soon. This is another Africa book told from the perspective of a white American aid worker, struggling to connect with the foreign world in which he has been dropped. D'Souza does an excellent job of putting the reader in the middle of the African village, completely isolated from the modern world. You feel like you're right there with him.
August 15, 2008
I didn't hate this book as much as I thought I would, though I'm not sure what kind of endorsement that is. It's written by a former peace corps volunteer from my writing workshop this summer, who is very up-and-coming in the writing world. Very smart guy, very charismatic, etc.
The book is more of a series of episodes than a novel--a collection of characters from Africa. The transitions from one chapter to the next aren't terribly smooth. That said, the images, the scenes, held my attention and kept me turning pages.
The book is more of a series of episodes than a novel--a collection of characters from Africa. The transitions from one chapter to the next aren't terribly smooth. That said, the images, the scenes, held my attention and kept me turning pages.
February 20, 2008
It sounds like the author took out the word "Peace Corps" and put in "International la la la NGO Water Woo".
I don't know of any NGO that makes you live at the level of the community, much less puts you in the real boonies, and the consolidation passage reminds me a lot of what we're told to do here.
Most interesting to me was the parts about unprotected sex - at least one idea why maaaaybe people would put themselves at such risk, although I saw it as a rather flimsy one.
I don't know of any NGO that makes you live at the level of the community, much less puts you in the real boonies, and the consolidation passage reminds me a lot of what we're told to do here.
Most interesting to me was the parts about unprotected sex - at least one idea why maaaaybe people would put themselves at such risk, although I saw it as a rather flimsy one.
March 12, 2012
Tony D’Souza expunged the Peace Corps from his literary work and by so doing liberated himself to be truthful. As Picasso once said, “We lie to tell the truth.” In this important Peace Corps Experience novel, he poses very serious questions (without ever mentioning “Peace Corps”); (1) What is a good job? (2) Can anyone ever really fit into a foreign culture? and (3) Does the Peace Corps really help? This is a fine novel.
September 1, 2012
A foreign aid worker recounts his experiences living in a small village in the Ivory Coast leading up to the civil war that expelled him from the country. Told as a series of connected short stories and drawing from the author's own background, the reader is immersed in the real, unvarnished life of an African village and the narrator's own very personal involvement in it. This is a beautiful book, evocatively told, that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a taste of that life.
June 15, 2008
I've read some other books that purport to be about the psychology of young americans discovering themselves abroad, but this is the first to not feel cheap, to seem true to experience, and -- most importantly -- to use this platform as a means to address greater issues. that is, to be literature. this book does a pretty good job.
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