Polite Society

by Melanie Sumner

An outsider in her Tennessee hometown, a precocious and unsteady young woman travels to Africa with the Peace Corps in search of adventure, where, despite her sense of humor, she continues to unravel

Genres: Africa

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_...

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first chapter of this book could be the beginning of an interesting book about US diplomats in a very different land. But then that whole story line is thrown away, never to be referred to again, and the rest of the book starts.

The rest of the book starts as if it could be an interesting story about an aimless girl finding her way in the Peace Corps, or about the problems the Peace Corps has in trying to do good, or the problems in trying to get anything done in the 3rd world. But it isn't any of these things. It is the story of an aimless girl becoming an alcoholic in her mid twenties, for lack of interest in doing anything else, who happens to be in Africa.

Several of the chapters in this book could stand alone as short stories and be illuminating, however, when strung together, for me, they lose value.

Not recommended.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book that I picked up from the display at the end of the library stack, I was pleasantly surprised by how well I liked it.