Native Intelligence

by Raymond A. Sokolov

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hilarious novel, set during the Kennedy years, is a savage satire of American arrogance and naivete in dispensing so-called aid to to Third World nations. A peace Corps worker who caught JFK in a compromising position is sent to a South American nation to civilize the indigenous, or so he thinks.

[Brian Wadman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious!

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent little book that deserves far more attention than it's gotten (at least in our time). A brilliant, hilarious, and scathing take-down of mid-20th century imperial dreams: of the post-colonial order, of creeping (and sweeping) American empire, of globalization, of the banality and hypocrisy of the American upper-middle classes. The list goes on. A short and exhilarating work that deserves its place right next to Graham Greene's The Quiet American as a record of the era, albeit written by a linguist rather than a spy.

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is funny as hell. I’m an RPCV, and can attest that this holds up despite a) the author not being a PCV himself and b) the book having been written 45 years ago. Some things withstand the test of time, and this is one of them. Long story short, he got our number. Probably the only book about Peace Corps I can stomach reading in its entirety. Highly underrated.

[•Judah• Cunneen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally misogynistic, oftentimes eerily inclusive and divergent from the blind patriotism of the era. Fun.