an excellent book if you want to read about the life of a mid level bureaucrat admittedly in some interesting locations, could have used more editing as it jumps around and repeats itself quite a bit

From the title and cover, I was expecting this book to be filled with funny stories about the author's time working in foreign service. While there were some funny situations, for the most part it was a straightforward recounting of his many years working in government aid agencies all over the world. He began his career in the African country of Mali, working on economic development projects. Throughout his long career he also worked with earthquake disaster assistance in Haiti and rebuilding efforts in Iraq after the war which removed Saddam Hussein from power. One of his final jobs was as ambassador in the African kingdom of Swaziland, where he worked to reduce the terrible toll that AIDS is taking in that country. It was interesting to read about the various projects and efforts that are going on all over the world, which most people have no idea about. The author's respect and admiration for people living in extreme poverty and dealing with crisis after crisis shines through. Many of the details and explanations are perhaps a bit too complex for the general reader, but overall, the book was very interesting. The one quibble I have is that, while working for the US government, the author frequently was visited by delegations of various political officials, and also attended functions where dignitaries, including US presidents past and present, were guests. When speaking about Republicans, they were always polite, professional and prompt. The Democrats were, without fail, rude, suspicious and disrespectful. There was also some shade thrown at former president Clinton who "traveled around with Mrs. Clinton's female aide." Ahem. Aside from that unfortunate political slant (which no US author can seem to get away from these days), I enjoyed reading about the work and adventures of the author.

I received a copy of this book from a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway.

Lewis Lucke's career by his own description was "never boring" but unfortunately his autobiography does drag quite a bit and could have used some deft editing. His life work in the Foreign Service shines its brightest in the early days when he seems to have been more true to himself in his desire to help others, especially the local people in some of the world's most dire areas. As his career matures, he cannot help but get involved in politics and he remains true to his Texas and southern (North Carolina) heritage and to his steadfast chumminess with the Bush families, among others. Despite his awkward attempts to remain unbiased, he still comes across as overly forgiving to the Bush administrations and snarky to the Clintons. Another annoying feature of the book is the use of first name only for people in public service (in other words, their identities are not secret) who would be better understood by the reader if both names were mentioned consistently. First name only references come across as coy rather than discrete. A better timeline and consistent chronology might have helped avoid some of the repetitions. Lucke's autobiography is most interesting when he's focused on local descriptions and interactions with the local people, solving the challenges of project development and so-forth. It would also be interesting to read more of his wife and family and how they all were able to cope with his assignments in difficult locations. Overall, this is a solid, very square, white male perspective, modestly describing his own career in a one-dimensional way.

This book is basically a highlights reel of Mr. Lucke's career in foreign service. From Mali to Haiti and lots of places in between, each chapter gives us some insights into what the people and places were like when the author was there. Each posting had its own challenges from politics to natural disasters. Overall, a well-written and engaging book that provides the reader with glimpses into places they've probably never been. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about a career in foreign service, as well as, anyone who just wants to know more about cultures and countries beyond their own. ( )

Mildly interesting - possibly more so to me, as a Foreign Service brat. I kept looking for where my family might have overlapped with him; the only one I spotted was post Second Gulf War, I recognized one of his anecdotes from the reconstruction work as something I'd heard at the time while working in the State Department Operations Center. The stories would probably have been more interesting if someone had done some editing to remove the constant redundancies. He'd say something, then a page or a paragraph later would repeat it in almost the same words and a slightly different context. His timelines also went back and forth - he worked on this, moved on, oh yeah worked on this (same thing) with the Peace Corps, moved on... Or he'd introduce a person and say he'd worked with them on this project or in this place, then would be telling the story of that project or that place and would introduce the person again, in pretty much the same way. Yes, I know, you just told me. I enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit about places and projects I was at most vaguely aware of, but it could have been a lot better. ( )