From the Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography:

“Outsiders have tried for decades in Haiti to fix and meddle with and run the show,” Amy Wilentz writes, “with, on the whole, quite poor long-term results, both because Haitians often don’t have the minimal training and life experience to keep projects going, and because the outsiders have no understanding of Haitian culture.”

“In so many ways,” Ms. Wilentz writes, “Dr. Coffee is the ideal foreign-aid delivery figure. She’s creative; she’s responsive. She lets Haiti teach her how to deal with Haiti.”