American Taboo: A Murder in the Peace Corps

by Philip Weiss

Book Overview

In 1975, a new group of Peace Corps volunteers landed on the island nation of Tonga. Among them was Deborah Gardner -- a beautiful twenty-three-year-old who, in the following year, would be stabbed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060096861
• ISBN13: 9780060096861
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 369 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Lyrical, well-researched, sad -- and important -- book

Philip Weiss' meticulously researched investigation into a Peace Corps murder in Tonga is a compelling account that leaves one infuriated -- both by the injustice of the outcome and by the complicity of the Peace Corps bureaucracy itself in thwarting justice. This book, in its way, starts to redress that injustice and calls the murderer (and, for that matter, the Peace Corps) to account in ways that Tongan and, especially, American legal systems did not. As a two-time Peace Corps volunteer who has a lot of pride in the goals and accomplishments of the agency, I can report that the programs in which I served were far better managed, with far better Peace Corps country directors, than the Tonga program in the '70s. And as a volunteer who served since the publication of TABOO, I can also say that it has indeed been read by many people in the agency. (A new generation of staffers, as outraged as any of us by the events Weiss details.) All the staff with whom I have talked say -- forcefully -- that this kind of Peace Corps meddling could never happen again, that changes have been made, that local legal systems are now more fully respected. Well, "never" is a long time, but at least, at Peace Corps headquarters, some lessons seem to have been learned from this tragedy, thanks in large part to Weiss' book. In any event, AMERICAN TABOO serves to tell a story that had been suppressed for far too long, to expose a murderer to the light of public scrutiny, to hold Peace Corps and the greater US government responsible, in some small measure, for past failings, to serve as a cautionary tale for future Peace Corps administrators -- and, finally, to serve as a monument to one Peace Corps Volunteer who was, in life, very much like the thousands of other Volunteers before and since: motivated, sincere, and dedicated to helping ... while trying to make sense of a perplexing new life being lived far, far away from America. == A brief word for the reviewers who seem to have fixated on Weiss' writing style (which they seem to confuse with lack of editing). Now and again, Weiss's prose does seem a bit like stream-of-consciousness rambling; punctuation or phraseology are unusual on occasion. This is a literary device much like the jerky, handheld camera movements in a TV series like NYPD Blue, a technique that gives the work a sense of verisimilitude it would otherwise not have. I find Weiss' prose sophisticated, interesting, effective. For those who rated the book one star based on the style alone, I'd say: Try to look at the bigger picture here and focus on the content, rather than the style. (See, also, Joyce's ULYSSES.) As for those who give the book a low rating because they don't like the outcome of the story.... Hey, don't kill the messenger.

American Taboo

I was NOT a Peace Corps Volunteer but lived in the South Pacific, Western Samoa, from 1978 - 1991. I worked as a teacher through the Methodist Church in Samoa. During my time there I associated with many PCV and NEVER heard of the murder in Tonga. This book was an eye opener and for one who was immersed in the culture of the South Pacific it was a sad disappointment that Tongan Justice was not served. This book was written with a lot of thought and research. I admire Mr. Weiss's perserverance in obtaining documents amidst the government and Peace Corps "reluctance" to accommodate him. I can appreciate the culture in relation to this book since I have married a Samoan. The culture is a real and driven part of this case and a total shame that it was not respected by the organization that supposedly trains its volunteers to blend in with the people. Hats off to Mr. Weiss.

Playing God in the Pacific

I am so glad the author has written this book! He has opened up the powerful story of an inspired life so many others willed into oblivion. In the tiny Pacific nation of Tonga, a beautiful young woman infuriated a fellow American by rejecting him and loving his friend. In a fit of jealous rage, he brutally stabbed her to death. The Tongan police arrested the killer and put him on trial. Incredibly, however, many of his compatriots began to treat her killer as the victim. The Peace Corps in Tonga rushed to save him from judgment. It was as if they shared the killer's belief that the murdered woman's beauty had been a crime for which she deserved to die. A previous reviewer pointed out that the author might not have been so obsessed with this woman's murder if she had not been beautiful. True, perhaps; but had she not been beautiful, her killer would not have obsessed with possessing and then murdering her. Had she not been beautiful, the Peace Corps Director and so many of the other expatriates in Tonga might not have been so unbelievably cold and indifferent to her murder. Horrified by the Peace Corps' protection of the man they all knew to have killed her, many of the Tongans began calling all the Americans there "killers." The mystery here is not who killed this young woman, but why and how the Peace Corps in Tonga ultimately vindicated her murderer, and in so doing, effectively justified her murder. Like Deborah Gardner, I grew up on the West Coast, went looking for adventure in the Peace Corps, and turned 23 in the Pacific. The beauty of the islands awed me, and the intense friendships we formed moved me, but I sensed something sinister about the Peace Corps there. Ugly things happened that repeatedly bewildered and shocked me; lies were told in volumes of paperwork; people were forced to leave, or compromise themselves; other people looked the other way. It was a mystery that maddened me: here we were in this spectacular place, guests in a fascinating society, supposedly carrying out a mission of peace, and so many of the Americans behaved like self-righteous maniacs. I fantasized about writing a book and calling it something like "Playing God in the Pacific." When I described the atmosphere of fear and persecution to a friend elsewhere in Peace Corps, she said: it's as if you witnessed a murder they're trying to keep secret. I did not understand how prescient her comment was until now. We never heard about Deb's murder then, but I believe Weiss' book brings to light a lot about the nature of the Peace Corps in the Pacific to this day. What happened, and how the Peace Corps dealt with what happened, continues to haunt the Peace Corps all over the Pacific.

Murder in an Exotic Location

If I had to pick one word to describe American Taboo, it would be "compelling." Weiss shows us how far a professional reporter can go in creating scenes from a place that was long ago and far away. The book would be worth reading just to gain a sense of day-to-day Peace Corps life, when exotic gets overwhelmed by mundane. But what fascinates Weiss is the old story of justice denied. A smart but geeky volunteer murders a beautiful girl. Everyone knows he's the killer. But ironically, as Weiss points out, Deb the victim was always a private person who hadn't made close friends. Dennis, her killer, had a circle of close friends who supported him through pre-trial confinement and trial, even bringing him food and gifts. And ironically the Peace Corps wanted to save its reputation. In defiance of the Agency's own rules, bureaucrats descended from Washington and a top-flight lawyer was hired to defend Dennis. Dennis was ultimately released to the US with a promise of long-term confinement in a mental institution. However, through legal loopholes, Dennis was allowed to go free. He ended up working for another US government agency, the Social Security Administration, in computers. As in many true crime stories, there's some ambivalence about assigning blame. True, Dennis is a murderer. But he was doing everything but wearing a sign saying, "Danger! Get this man out of here!" He didn't like Tonga and didn't fit. His colleague had tried to report concerns to the Peace Corps country director, only to be turned away. And this Director was hardly blameless. A political appointee, Mary had been an executive secretary and modeling agency director. She lacked management skills and cultural awareness. She created tension and resentment among volunteers, including both the inept Dennis and the competent Deborah. Ultimately the story is about what happens when people feel they've hit bottom, as Dennis would. Denied a re-enlistment and spurned by Deb, he fell deeper into his own darkness. He was unable to feel and return the friendship that others generously extended. An Australian family allows him to use their washing machine each week; he cuts off the wife's hair while she's sleeping. From all accounts, Dennis suffered a situational descent into paranoia. By Tongan justice, he should have been locked up for life. Recent op-ed articles have raised questions about the function of imprisonment, and Weiss inadvertently presents the case against harsh sentences. Dennis never harmed anyone else, as far as we know, and went on to serve society as a useful citizen. Ironically, American Taboo offers a natural experiment: What happens when a murderer goes free? In summary, American Taboo is a great page-turner, as gripping as any mystery or adventure novel. It's hard to put down. Yes, it's a bit long, and there are too many details, especially with regard to the trial. But in the end, the details are necessary to make the exotic setting seem r

Terrific book; well-written tour de force

I have little or nothing in common with the Peace Corps types in this book and next to no interest in their projects, but the author does an amazing and wonderful job of bringing them all to life and making you care about them. This is an especially brilliant thing to have done given that the case was almost 25 years old before the author really started digging into it. He makes the people, the place, and the spirit come alive through his terrific writing. I got hooked in the first short paragraph: "No one forgets his first foreign country. The light, the architecture, the way they do their eggs. Red money. The dreamy disorientation. The smell of aviation fuel." This is wonderful writing at its best. Buy it even if you think you won'd be interested; I guarantee you will.