Alhaji: A Peace Corps Adventure in Nigeria
This slim book is a testament to the influence that the experience oin the Peace Corps had on its volunteers far more than what the volunteers accomplished in the foreign lands. That said, one can enjoy the story that Hirsch tells and admire her spirit of adventure and her adaptability to extremely unusual circumstances. ...There is no doubt that the author was a changed person after her Peace Corps experience, and her growth is admirable to read about.
Book Description
A young woman travels to Africa. As a teacher in the Peace Corps, she comes of age, falling in love and having adventures. Having grown up in the segregated South of the United States, finding herself surrounded by Africans, whose greeting for her translated Peeled One, she had some adjustments to make. She learned to live with people who were not racist, and who were hospitable and kind. But by the time she came back to America, she was changed forever, and the second culture shock was finding... read more
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Customer Reviews
Avg. Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5 out of 5 stars good story, June 18, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Santa Monica, CA USA
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.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1 out of 5 stars Disappointing and uninformative, April 17, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Charlottesville, VA United States
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.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3 out of 5 stars alhaji, September 25, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from Bloomfield, CT USA
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.