The Village of Waiting

Here is a frank, moving, extremely vivid account of contemporary African life for anyone whose curiosity extends beyond the limits of Out of Africa. Stationed as a Peace Corps instructor in the village of Lavie (the name means "wait a little more") in tiny underdeveloped Togo, George Packer portrays his own schooling at the hands of an unforgettable array of villagers - peasants, chiefs, charlatans, children, market women, cripples, crazies, and those who, having lost or given up much of their traditional identity and fastened their hopes on "development", find themselves trapped between the familiar repetitions of rural life and the chafing monotony of waiting for change. The Village of Waiting is a contemporary classic of travel literature, a must-read for anyone interested in Africa today.