Customer Reviews

Alhaji: A Peace Corps Adventure in Nigeria

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was an interesting story and made you feel like you were there; gave you a good idea about Africa and about the Peace Corps.

As a future Peace Corps volunteer in neighboring Burkina Faso, I was hoping to get insights into the lives of Volunteers and Africans in the area. This book fell horribly short of my expectations. Hirsch mentions virtually nothing about her duties as a Peace Corps Volunteer, giving the reader little insight into her work here. The book reads like a string of short, random memories that aren't organized in any meaningful way, and she often writes something that seems like it will be the beginning of a good story, but then abruptly switches topics. Even her discussion of Nigerian culture is minimal. What stood out most when I finished this book was Hirsch's several brief mentions of her sexual encounters in Nigeria, which earned her the title "Peace Corps Harlot" and which she describes with the bashful simplicity and superficiality of a twelve-year-old. I was hoping for something informative and inspiring, and this was definitely neither. I suppose that some people could consider this book to be a mildly interesting light read, but for someone interested in the Peace Corps experience, this book did nothing for me. Its 90 or so pages were a relief to finish.

I found this book left me hanging...it is not only slim in size but slim as well in development of the story. I was anxious to hear more about the people and the environment but instead was disappointed in what I got back. The idea to write this book was well taken but it could have easily been many more pages.