Bøker av Willard Losinger

Otto Steven was an idiot who held a doctoral degree in agricultural economics. Otto performed sophisticated-looking analyses of data from surveys of livestock producers for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and got papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Otto's work was pure garbage, but was exactly what the scientific journals wanted.Patsy Nowak was a bright young university student who had a part-time internship, thanks to a special USDA program for individuals with disabilities. Otto was her supervisor. Otto invited Patsy to his church, but remained suspicious that she might harbor "liberal" political views, and that she might not fully share his religious beliefs. One day, Otto happened to notice Patsy on the opposite side of the street when he attended a rally in support of two men who had been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming. Sensing his suspicions against Patsy confirmed, Otto's fury erupted.

The author was a United States Peace Corps volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga from 1984 to 1986. His observations and experiences are frankly recounted in two intertwined short stories. Names have been changed, and the narrative placed in the third person.The first short story, An American Volunteer at Work, describes a typical day in the volunteer's assigned job as a statistician with the Statistics Department, which was part of the Ministry of Finance, in Nuku'alofa. The second, Polynesian Nights, delves into the volunteer's social life on the South Pacific island, with particular emphasis on inter-cultural aspects, including dating.The print version includes some of the author's photographs from Tonga.