Archive - June 9, 2021

  Old Man in the Bag by Ted Wells (Ethiopia 1968-71) Create Space Publisher 286 pages November 2012 $4.95 (Kindle); $21.95 (Paperback) Reviewed by Andrew Tadross (Ethiopia 2011-13) • The Peace Corps memoir is a literary typology in itself, one with a niche readership.  It’s a safe bet that every RPCV has been told by an enthusiastic relative that they must absolutely chronicle their exotic adventures and foibles, their inevitable cultural misunderstandings, their painful failures, and their priceless victories in their valiant efforts to integrate into host communities and accomplish something significant in a 27-month window. Ted Wells has published such a memoir that transports the reader into the world of wild and rural Ethiopia in the late 1960s, with him and his newlywed wife Helen.  Idealistic, naïve, determined, and with an admirable sense of humor, this couple weather the discomforts that come with the territory… intestinal assaults, hellish bus . . .