Book description
It's the early 1990s and three young people are looking to change
their lives, and perhaps also the world. Attracted to the ambitious
global peacekeeping work of the UN, Andrew, Ken and Heidi's paths
cross in Cambodia, from where their fates are to become inextricably
bound. Over the coming years, their stories interweave through
countries such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti - war-torn,
lawless places where the intervention of the UN is needed like nowhere
else. Driven by idealism, the three struggle to do the best they can,
caught up in an increasingly tangled web of bureaucracy and
ineffectual leadership. As disillusionment sets in, they attempt to
keep hold of their humanity through black humour, revelry and
'emergency sex'.
Brutal and moving in equal measure, Emergency Sex (And Other
Desperate Measures) explores pressing global issues while never
losing a sense of the personal. Deeply critical of the West's
indifference to developing countries and the UN's repeated failure to
intervene decisively, the book provoked massive controversy on its
initial publication. Kofi Annan called for the book to be banned, and
debate was sparked about the future direction of the UN. Brilliantly
written and mordantly funny, it is a book that continues to make waves.
Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain & Andrew Thomson served in
peacekeeping operations throughout the 90s. All are now based in New
York.
