Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: Not only a great read but also informative. As one of the first Peace Corps books I read I didn't know what to expect but it was surprisingly good. I have read numerous Peace Corps book since but this one remains my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Reading this book brought back good memories of working with Doug at the engineering firm. I laughed out loud at several of his stories. Doug has wonderful storytelling skills, a self-deprecating sense of humor and a sense of aplomb about any situation he gets himself into. You can easily put yourself in his place when you read the narrative. The sheep roundup story is great! I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the Peace Corps or the foreign service...or anyone looking for a good read. You won't be able to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Again
Review: The fact of the matter is that this is a really bad book for several reasons. The book gives little to no insight into the life of a normal Peace Corps volunteer, but rather instead serves as a vehicle for Doug to boast about his exploits in a very pretentious fashion. The writing itself is very juvenile and undisciplained, just plain boring in many spots, and then trying to bring these boring stories to an exciting climax. If you are looking for a book that is going to let you know what it is like to have a normal existance as a Peace Corps volunteer, then it is my opinion that this is not the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Broad appeal
Review: The fact that a chapter of this book appeared in the December 2001 International edition of Reader's Digest is a testimony to its broad appeal.
Rating:
Summary: Those crazy Estos
Review: This book was hilarious. I finished the book in one evening, I couldn't put it down. I have recommended it to friends and family and all have enjoyed it. It gave my husband a glimpse of the Estonian food, personalities, attitudes, language and culture that I grew up with as the daughter of Estonian-Americans.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: This is a self-published book and I wasn't expecting much. I was really pleasantly surprised. Each chapter is a vignette from Douglas's life on Hiiumaa. The writing is good, the editing is crisp, the stories are funny. I think the book says more about Estonia, and about the period just after the events of 1989/1991, than it does about the Peace Corps. I spent quite a bit of time in the Baltics and Russia during the same years as Douglas. For me the book captured the flavor of these times very well.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book
Review: What a great book! Almost every Peace Corps Volunteer wants to write about their experience. A few succeed in writing their book, but Douglas Wells has succeeded in writing a great book. He has a unique sense of irony which make for a very entertaining read, while at the same time you really feel for him as he struggles to make good as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Irony is not Wells' only gift. He is also extremely thoughtful and insightful, which give the entire book the sense that you are peaking into someone's personal diary. The themes, however, are universal to the Peace Corps experience. When he compares the stunned look on the Estonians' faces when he begins to address them in their native language to Planet of the Apes, (the original, not the Mark Wahlberg remake) when the simians first learn that Charlton Heston can speak...I don't think there are many Peace Corps Volunteers who can not relate to this. Yet only Douglas Wells would have ever come up with such a comparison. This book is a great read for anyone interested in what the Peace Corps Experience is really like. Also a very good read for those interested in Estonia.
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