Customer Reviews

Bush Hat, Black Tie: Adventures of a Foreign Service Officer

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I bought this book with the hope that it would give me some insight on how to answer the hypothetical questions of the State Department's Foreign Service Oral exam that I have coming up. On the down side, he spent little time discussing his early career, and since I'm going for the Managerial track (his was, I guess, sort of like public diplomacy)it was the gold mine I had hoped for.

However, he gave great insight into what real life is like at a hardship post, and his mid- and late- career experiences were invaluable. His experiences show just how important interpersonal relationships are in the foreign service, which contrasted my view that it is all book knowledge and sterile, rely-purely-on-yourself stuff.

"Although the passing of time often tends to blur specific memories and dates, the events in this book are factual and, I trust, untainted by political correctness". The person who wrote this in the preface to "Bush Hat, Black Tie: Adventures of a Foreign Service Officer" is the author of the book himself, Howard R. Simpson (1925-1999).

The author is a person I would have like to know, because he led a very interesting life, seemed to possess a good sense of humour, and managed not to take himself too seriously while being extremely professional about his job, being a diplomat. Simpson didn't plan to be a diplomat, "it just happened". Before that, he participated in the Second World War, studied art in Paris, and became a journalist. He could have been many things, but he ended up being a diplomat, although a rather peculiar one.

The beginning of Simpson's career can be traced to 1951, when he joined the Foreign Service as an information specialist. Simpson would be posted to French Indochina, Nigeria, France, South Vietnam, Australia and Algeria. He would also work in the United States, specifically in Washington and as a professor in the U.S. Naval War College. This book includes interesting photographs that show the author in some of those places, and that emphasize the fact that in his career he wore a bush hat at least as frequently as a black tie. My favorite photograph is probably one that shows the author in Hanoi, in 1954, when he was posing as a Polish journalist in order to escape unharmed from the communist occupied city.

In this book, Simpon shares with the reader some of the experiences he had in the somewhat strange life that some diplomats live. He does that in an engaging way, peppering serious observation regarding policy matters with funny anecdotes. A good example of that can be found in the chapter "Fire ant fandango", where he talks about the last stages of decolonization in Nigeria, but also tells us what happens when African fire ants are surprise visitors to a reception.

It is easy to see in every page of this book that Simpson loved his career, even though he wasn't much of a fan of paperwork. In his words, "I believe most Foreign Service veterans would agree that few other professions offer such a variety of interesting, adventurous, and -at times- dangerous assignments. My only advice to those now entering the ranks would be: beware of creeping bureacracy, don't take yourself too seriously, and enjoy your new career".

On the whole, I highly recommend "Bush Hat, Black Tie: Adventures of a Foreign Service Officer". It doesn't matter if you are just a reader looking to be entertained, or a person who is seriously considering joining the Foreign Service. I'm pretty sure that both kinds of reader will find what they are looking for in this book.

Belen Alcat

For any considering the Foriegn Service, like me. You'll find out that it has it's share of bureaucratic drudgery...but all in all it's an exciting, vey adventurous job. Mr. Simpson's writing is very easy going and entertaining, and if you weren't careful you'd probably think you were reading a book on a backpacker's travels through various hotspots of the Cold War. Except this backpacker represents the US Gov't, and gets paid to do so.

A vivid and witty description of the author's career with the US Information Service and the diplomatic corps in Vietnam, Africa and France. Simpson is a good writer with a great sense of humor. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Entertaining if episodic accout of life as a diplomat. At times parochial and old-fashioned, the book reads like a nostalgic take on life in the good old days of the Western Empire.

The book is a collection of anecdotes of a foreign service career that spanned several continents. The author has a good sense of humor and paints a memorable picture. A fun, quick read.

Picked up this little gem at a book outlet -- sorry Amazon -- and I so enjoyed it I'm looking for Simpson's other books. Frankly never heard of him, but its easy to see why there are so many books to his credit. His writing flows with ease and quick wit. If he was anywhere near as good a foreign service officer as he is a writer we ought to get him to the Middle East pronto. Simpson writes "I regret I had but one liver to give my country" or words to that effect. His tales of the diplomatic cocktail circuit in odd, out-of-the way locations are terrific.

I am in the process of reading this book (just finished the part about California wine in Marseille), and find it very entertaining. However, does anyone else find the frequency in which local prostitutes are mentioned disturbing? I've lived and travelled overseas quite a bit, and although it's the oldest profession in the world, one would think that the cities the author lived in and visited would have a lot more to describe than the talents of local working girls.

This seems to be basically a collection of mildly intriguing antidotes from Mr. Simpson's diary. It gives some idea of what it was like to be an information officer, and some of the stories are interesting. But the book lacks emotion, wallows in neutrality and is quite dated (ending in 1979). Mr. Simpson also strikes one as being more concerned with his lifestyle than the actual job, which is admirable, but not informative.

If one is looking to learn what it's really like to be an FSO, particulary in one of the other career tracks within the Foreign Service, there may be better sources out there.
I am now in search of a book that provides more in-depth analysis of the job being done by the State Dept and FSOs overseas.