The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia

by P.F. Kluge

In 1967 the Peace Corps sent P. F. Kluge to paradise - or so the American possessions in Micronesia seemed. His assignment was as noble as it was adventurous: to help the people of those half-forgotten Pacific islands move from old to new, so that paradise would have prosperity and freedom as well as physical beauty. He immersed himself in the lives of the diverse peoples of the islands. He composed speeches for their leaders. He wrote a stirring manifesto that became the Preamble to the Constitution of Micronesia. He began a friendship with a man who would one day be president of Palau. And then, a generation later, P. F. Kluge went back. . . . The result is a book the New Yorker called "remarkably effective," the Economist deemed "terrific"; a book Smithsonian Magazine found to be "written from the heart." The Edge of Paradise shows the impact and ironies of America's presence in an undeveloped part of the world, how perhaps there's no way "a big place can touch a little one without harming it."

Genres: Travel

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

P.F. Kluge attended Kenyon College and the University of Chicago, and served in the U.S. Peace Corps (in Micronesia). He has worked as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and as an editor at Life magazine. He has written for numerous publications, including Playboy, Rolling Stone, and Smithsonian, and is a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler. As Writer-in-Residence at Kenyon, Kluge specializes in the reading and writing of American literature. He is a reporter, a writer, and a teacher.

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“…and don’t go mistakin’ paradise for that home across the road”

If Edward Said had not had Middle Eastern origins, he might have written his seminal “Orientalism” on the South Pacific islands with another title to be sure. If the so-called Middle East is closer to Europe and has had longer contacts with the West, the Pacific islands got a near fatal dose of “Occidentalitis” over the 19th century and into our own times. The balmy, lovely isles of near-paradise, the sun-kissed atolls, the ukulele-playing, grass-skirted “natives”, the willing girls, the coconuts and fish to be had for a song, if only you had the guts to leave home you could have a wonderful life there. And you know, those natives really don’t know what’s happening.
Hello?? Another message from those who want to control somebody else’s land and create the myths to do it.
Yeah, OK, P.F. Kluge served in the Peace Corps in Micronesia in the 1960s and says he wasn’t as starry-eyed as most of the others, but I think that is mostly hindsight. But, sure, he learned a lot and he can write really well, so I recommend this book most highly. He was older than the other volunteers and wound up working in the local media, later writing speeches and getting to know most of the rising group of politicians who were trying to figure out how to cast off the grip of Uncle Sam while not necessarily forsaking his bounty. He drank beer with all the local heavies and had some great chances to visit remote atolls. After some time, but with several returns, Kluge went to teach English in Ohio and to write novels. Micronesia, in all its variety, beauty and tackiness, pollution and political quarrels, had a hold on him. One of the Palauan politicians who had played a central role in the long negotiations between the former Trust Territory and the US (the Americans had taken over the formerly Japanese-held islands with United Nations blessing after WW II) became president of Palau, but shot himself. Or was it murder? The previous president had been assassinated. He and Kluge were long-time friends and the author wondered why he had done it (or IF he had done it). Kluge made a kind of pilgrimage to his grave as well as a personal quest for reasons in 1988, stopping at several islands that he had known a long time before---Majuro (Marshall Islands), Pohnpei, Truk, and Yap (Micronesia the country), Saipan (Northern Marianas, a US territory) and Palau. His description of that trip, plus the memories he has of what they were like two decades previously, is just excellent. He provides a lot of inside dope on the politics of the islands and stomps the “Myth of the Island Paradise” firmly into the ground. People are people, no matter where they live---venality and idealism, hope and despair always. “Happy Isles of the South Seas” indeed! I spent some time in Palau some years ago. Believe me, this is the best description and analysis of that small but complex society that you’re going to get. Kluge may be a bit cynical, but being close to power brokers would tend to make that happen.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having arrived home yesterday from a short vacation/work trip in Pohnpei, I feel particularly motivated to write about Kluge's book. I actually finished this book about a month ago and have been stewing over what to write every since. Less intensive than Father Hezel's comprehensive history, and less playful than Peter Rudiak-Gould's tale of life in the Marshalls, Kluge's commentary--colorful, accurate, and funny--makes for an enjoyable read. His experience in the region over several decades combined with his existing writing abilities is captivating for anyone who has lived in the America-dominated North Pacific.

Having lived here myself for almost two years now, I identify a lot with the author's perspectives. I confess, in fact, that I am somewhat flustered by just how much I recognize the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. Kluge wrote this over two decades ago. Since then, the Soviet Union collapsed, the internet was born, there have been dramatic transformations in the global economy, and the U.S. has fought three wars. Out here, almost nothing has changed. Kluge has captured here an improbable story of a region frozen in time, beholden to U.S. foreign assistance, in no hurry to take dramatic steps to grab ahold of "the next best thing," and seemingly content where things stand, to the utter consternation of many who had hoped for something better. The story of the fisherman and the business consultant is all too real here in the Pacific.

Read more at http://znovels.blogspot.com/2013/01/t....

[Ingrid]

I found this book facinating because the author visited nearly all the same Pacific Islands as I did. And when he became the speach writer for the Palauan President, I felt like this book was written with me in mind. I don't know if anyone would enjoy it without the personal connection I had to the people and places in this books.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting if you have been there

Dragged on too long, was hard to finish. I have lived on Rota for a couple years so knew of some of this history and recognized politicians' names.