Review Of George Packer's Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade
Dick Lipez (Ethiopia 1962–64; PC/HQ staff 1964–67) is a former editorial writer at The Berkshire Eagle. He also reviews books for The Washington Post and he writes the Don Strachey private eye series under the name Richard Stevenson. Death Vows was chosen by Maureen Corrigan on NPR as one of the top five crime novels of 2008. The 38 Million Dollar Smile, set in Thailand, was published in September. When George Packer’s (Togo 1982-83) new book, Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade came out, I asked Dick to read it, as he has traveled to many of the countries that are the focus of Packer’s essays. Dick also was a Peace Corps evaluator (after being a PCV) and he has that edgy way about him that those early evaluators had who worked for Charlie Peters. These evaluators of the early Peace Corps projects never believed anything the staff told them, and they never . . .
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