Customer Reviews

The Village of Waiting

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For the longest time after reading this amazing and wonderful book I worried about George Packer - how he had gotten on, if he was successful, where he had gone, and if he had written more in the same lucid and painfully honest style he used in this autobiographical essay on his years in Togo as a Peace Corps volunteer. So it was with special joy today that I discovered not only that he's just written a major work (on American liberalism) that has been reviewed by the NY Times quite favorably, but that's he's written other works as well. Truly, Packer has an intellectual honesty that is extremely rare, coupled with an innate ability to put in words the deepest and most sincere and heartfelt feelings of Peace Corps volunteer and of those who have share the volunteer experience, particularly those among us who were blessed with service in Africa. The Village of Waiting is a "travel narrative", you might call it, that transcends the genre. Highly recommended.

George Packer's ability to describe the lives of many who live in Togo make this piece of text a must-read for all, even for those who do not have an interest in serving in the Peace Corps. He writes with raw emotion and sincerity, without a tad of pretense. I'd say that Packer's foremost accomplishment in this text is that he makes no attempt to tell a story about how a superior white individual intervenes in a remote village and rids the residents of poverty and illiteracy. Rather, The Village of Waiting is a sincere account of his realization that sadly, some things just cannot be altered. I think Packer knew this from the outset, but it is interesting to read about he endures this realization during his 2-year service in Togo.

I read a tattered, much passed around copy of Village of Waiting in my Peace Corps house in a village not far from George Packer's. I returned in October 2001. Hard to imagine that after nearly twenty years, so much of what Packer wrote about Togo has not changed very much. . . Togo still waits. When people ask me about Togo, I'm still not sure what to say. I imagine Packer is still unsure. All I can say is that it is easy to give up on Togo, quite another thing to give up on its people. Packer's reflections of life in Lavie provide a lot of insight into the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is a book that many PCVs either love or hate. Although it must be said that they seem to hate it when they arrive in Togo, and love it if they read or re-read it later, especially after leaving Togo. Many PCVs have complained that he was too soft, and couldn't handle it, but it is my impression that Packer really understood his reality and that is what made it so hard for him to handle it everyday. He understood the absurdity and hardship, and did not romanticize it. It made him angry. I know how he felt. I often wondered about the characters in Packer's book, as I zoomed through Lavie on my way up-country. Luckily, this new print has some follow-up on the many characters of his village.

The Village Of Waiting is an incredible description of life in West Africa. It captures the essence of being a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa. Anyone who has ever been or thought about being a Peace Corps Volunteer should read this book.

I spent a semester of college in Togo about the same time the author was there. Five years later, I read this book. It was the most emotional book-reading experience I have ever had. Packer accurately describes all the emotions an American goes through when encountering life in West Africa. Ten years later, Packer wrote a moving addendum for the Boston Review, which is available online... Just find the Boston Review magazine website from Yahoo, and then do a search on George Packer. It's in the April/May 1994 Vol. XIX No. 2 edition of the Boston Review.

I read the Village of Waiting before I left for the peace corps in Benin, West Africa, and then again and again while I was there. It is the most accurate description of Peace Corps service in Togo, Benin, and other West African countries that exists. This book is an absolute MUST READ for all present, past, and future Peace Corps Volunteers of West Africa. I re-read this book whenever I want to get the essence of my experience in Benin back.

If you want to cast moral judgement on George Packer, don't read this book. If you want to read the best Peace Corps book ever written, at least about life in Africa, then pick up this book. I lived in Guinea in the mid-90s, while Packer was in Togo in the early 80s. Yet I felt like he was describing my own village, my own frustrations, my own thoughts and feelings (save the prostitute). This was the book that convinced me not to write a book about my own experience. He did it, only better.

This book gets at the heart of being a Peace Corps volunteer in a third world country. I've read it several times, and am trying to get another copy for a friend who will be working in Africa.

Haunting--this book is raw and hontest. I can't get it off my mind. Will be visiting friends doing VSO in northern Ghana soon and am trying to get a copy for them as well.

This book is incredible. It's at once funny and poignant. Its descriptions of Togo are spot on - Packer paints a vividly realistic portrait of his experiences in that country. He's also honest about himself and his reactions - he paints himself and his reactions to his surroundings in an unvarnished light. This touching account of his experiences makes for very rewarding reading.