The Saddest Pleasure : A Journey on Two Rivers

The Saddest Pleasure The Saddest Pleasure is a deeply personal look at the people poverty beauty art music literature and passion of South America by an American who has spent most of his life there. Moritz Thomsen was one of the early Peace Corps volunteers. Through his skill as a writer he vividly brings to life the people and landscapes he loves. The Saddest Pleasure tells the story of Thomsens desperate departure from Ecuador at the age of sixty-three and his soul-searching journey through Brazil and the Amazon River. Along the way the author reflects on the meaning of his own life and the world around him his friendships and on the distances between people and cultures. Thomsens spirited observations are tinged with irascibility as he moves from city to feudal countryside from primitive conditions to the startlingly contemporary details of a culture in transition. Paul Therouxs introduction to this book is a testament to Mr. Thomsens remarkable life.