Editor's Choice:

Books About the Peace Corps Experience

The High Price of Everything (Buy this book)

An RPCV returns to her country of service.

Kathleen Coskran (Peace Corps Volunteer, Ethiopia 1965-67), Minneapolis: New Rivers Press, 1987.

Peace Corps: The Great Adventure

Short essays by Peace Corps Writers on what it's like to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

John Coyne (Peace Corps Volunteer, Ethiopia 1962-64) E-mail editor, Peace Corps, USGPO, DC, 1997, 1999. Available free from Peace Corps Regional Recruiting Offices.

Blue Taxis: Stories about Africa (Buy this book)

Short stories based on her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Eileen Drew (Peace Corps Volunteer, Zaire 1979-81), Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 1989 (Milkweed Fiction Prize, 1989)

From the Center of the Earth: Stories Out of the Peace Corps (Buy this book)

A collection of writings by thirteen Peace Corps Volunteers.

Geraldine Kennedy (Peace Corps Volunteer, Liberia 1962-64), E-mail, Santa Monica, CA: Clover Park Press, 1991 (Editor)

The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia (Buy this book)

The story of a Peace Corps Volunteer's long asssociation with his country of service.

P. F. Kluge (Peace Corps Volunteer, Micronesia 1967-69) , NY: Random House, 1991. Univeristy of Hawaii Press, paper, 1993 (RPCV Writers & Readers' Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award, 1992)

Under the Neem Tree (Buy this book)

A touching, wonderful story of one woman's life in West Africa.

Susan Lowerre (Peace Corps Volunteer, Senegal 1985-87) Sag Harbor, NY: Permanent Press, 1991; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993

The Keeper of the Moon: A Memoir (Buy this book)

A moving memoir.

Tim McLaurin (Peace Corps Volunteer, Tunisia 1978-80), NY: W. W. Norton, 1991. Anchor Books, 1992, paper edition.

Green Fires: Assault on Eden, A Novel of the Ecuadorian Rain-Forest (Buy this book)

A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer returns to her country of service.

Marnie Mueller (Peace Corps Volunteer, Ecuador 1963-65), CT: Curbstone Press, 1994 (RPCV WRITERS & READERS' Maria Thomas Fiction Award, 1994)

The Village of Waiting (Buy this book)

A writer recounts his experiences.

George Packer (Peace Corps Volunteer, Togo 1982-83), NY: Vintage/Random House, 1988

Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle

This is one of the classic Peace Corps accounts.

Moritz Thomsen (Peace Corps Volunteer, Ecuador 1965-67), Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969; 1990

The Ponds of Kalambayi: An African Sojourn (Buy this book)

Another classic.

Mike Tidwell (Peace Corps Volunteer, Zaire 1985-87), NY: Lyons & Burford, 1990, 1996 (paper). (RPCV Writers & Readers' Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award, 1991)

The Funniest Job You'll Ever Love: An Anthology of Peace Corps Humor

The 'real' stories of what it's like in the Peace Corps.

Beryl Brinkman (Peace Corps Volunteer, Afghanistan 1967-69), Second Edition, Eugene, OR: West Cascade RPCVs, 1991 (Compiler)

Festival for Three Thousand Maidens

A novel, but also a true account of what it's like to teach overseas.

Richard Wiley (Peace Corps Volunteer, Korea 1967-69), NY: Dutton, 1991