Annotated Bibliography

Primary Bibliography

The following is a list of the five books authored by Moritz Thomsen. The list primarily follows the order of publication of the four published books: Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle, The Farm on the River of Emeralds, The Saddest Pleasure, and My Two Wars. Subsequent translations and excerpts of the originals are listed in chronological order. Bad News from a Black Coast is still unpublished as a book, although excerpts of that manuscript have been published.

Thomsen, Moritz. Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. Mass Paperback ed. New York: Ballantine
Books, 1970.
---------------------. Meat is for Special Days: Pride and Poverty in a Village in Ecuador. 1st British ed. of
Living Poor. London: Souvenir Press, 1971.
---------------------.Arm mit den Armen. German edition of Living Poor.  Baden-Baden: Signal-Verlag, 1978.
---------------------. Living Poor: An American’s Encounter with Ecuador. 2nd British ed. of Living Poor.
London: Eland Books, 1989.
---------------------. Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. 1969. Paperback ed. Seattle: University of
Washington Press. 1990, 1997.
---------------------. Excerpts from Living Poor. From the Center of the Earth: Stories Out of the Peace
Corps. Ed. Geraldine Kennedy. Santa Monica, CA: Clover Park Press, 1991.
----------------------. Excerpts from Living Poor. At Home in the World: The Peace Corps Story. Peace
Corps/USGPO, 1996.
---------------------. The Farm on the River of Emeralds. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.
---------------------. The Farm on the River of Emeralds. 1st Vintage Departures ed. (with added “Postscript”).
New York: Vintage/Random House, 1989.
---------------------. The Farm on the River of Emeralds.  2nd Vintage Departures ed. (Hardback). New York:
Vintage/Ebury/Random House, 1999.
---------------------. “Drawn to the river that reverses itself,” double page excerpt in The Observer from The
Farm on the River of Emeralds, 7 April 1991, Travel sect.
--------------------. La Ferme sur le rio Esmeraldas (Broché). Trans. Gerard Henri. Paris: Phebus, 2002.
---------------------. The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers (A Graywolf Memoir). St Paul
Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 1990.
---------------------. The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers. London: Sumach Press, 1991. Second
ed.
---------------------. Le Plaisir le plus triste (Broche) Trans. Gerard Henri. Paris: Phebus, 2003.
---------------------. My Two Wars. 1996. South Royalton Vermont: Steerforth Press, 1998.
---------------------. Mes Deux Guerres. Trans. Eric Chedaille. Paris: Phebus, 2005.
----------------------.Excerpts from My Two Wars. Creative Nonfiction.  Issue 5 (1996): Fathers and
Fatherhood.
---------------------. Bad News from a Black Coast.  Unpublished Manuscript, previous working title: You
Don’t Have to Live Here.
----------------------. Excerpts from Bad News from a Black Coast.  From the Center of the Earth: Stories
Out of the Peace Corps. Ed. Geraldine Kennedy. Santa Monica, CA: Clover Park Press, 1991.
Excerpts from Bad News from a Black Coast. Salon.com. 2000.
http://archive.salon.com/wlust/pass/1998/07/15pass.html

Los Molinos Sun

---------------------. “Beatniks.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also
in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.
http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Bombing Berlin.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. 14 July 1960. Clipping
signed  M.T. Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007. http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Dogs of War.” Smokebox. 2007. http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun802.html.
---------------------. “Bore.” The Mill Run Columns, no clipping, in manuscript form, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Bull sale.” The Mill Run Columns. Handwritten version only, in notebook, no date.
Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Christmas I.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Christmas II.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Yuletide Madness.” Smokebox.
2007. http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun1202.html.
---------------------. “Dentists.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun 4 September 1959. Clipping. Also
in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Dharma Bums.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Ethics.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.
---------------------. “Ethics II.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.
---------------------. “Fall 1944.” Smokebox. 2007.
http://www.smokebox.net/archives/what/thomsenwound03.html.
---------------------. “Fanatics.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Farmers´ Laugh.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping , no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Friends” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun 12 May 1960. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “George Harris.” The Mill Run Columns. Handwritten version only, in notebook, no
---------------------. “Letter to M.T.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Hog Shit I.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. In notebook, longhand, no date.
Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007. http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Manure Blues.” Smokebox. 2007 http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun203.html.
---------------------. “Hog Shit II.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “I want out.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Monkeys.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun 14 April 1960. Clipping. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Music.” The Mill Run Columns, Published in Los Molinos Sun 28 July 1960. Clipping.
Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Pasteurized Prune.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also
in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Smoke Stained Teeth.” Smokebox
http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun602.html.
---------------------. “Pitfalls.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. There is also a
slightly different handwritten version. Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad
San Francisco de Quito. 2007. http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Publisher´s dinner.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date,
signed M.T. Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
2007. http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Fat Cat Party.” Smokebox. 2007. http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun403.html.
---------------------. “Silence” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Sportsmen I” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date.
Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007. http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Dangerous Game.” Smokebox. 2007. http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun1002.html.
---------------------. “Sportsmen II” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “Dangerous Game.” Smokebox. 2007. http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun1002.html.
---------------------. “Tapdancing Bird” The Mill Run Columns, Published in Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no            date. Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also in Smokebox. 2007.
http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun1004.html.
--------------------. “Television.” The Mill Run Columns, Published in Los Molinos Sun, clipping, no date.            Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Vulgarity” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “War.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date, in manuscript form
in notebook. Also in “The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007. http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/. Also published as “State of War.” Smokebox.2007. http://www.smokebox.net/archives/millrun/millrun402.html.
---------------------. “Watermelons.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.
---------------------. “Waves.” The Mill Run Columns. Los Molinos Sun. Clipping, no date. Also in
“The Mill Run Columns.” Liberarte. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2007.            http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.

The San Francisco Chronicle.

Those articles that appear in the San Francisco Chronicle, beginning in 1964, under Thomsen´s signature, mark his entry to the Peace Corps. Thomsen sent theses texts regularly to that publication even though, as he reveals in the introduction to Living Poor, the Editor, whom he had contacted prior to his enrollment, in the hope that he would show some interest, had already turned him down. These texts originally appear in the Sunday edition of The Chronicle and are published up until 1972. Thomsen´s incisive and informal writing can already be felt at a time which can properly be understood as a laboratory for self expression, since a good part of these materials went on to make up Living Poor. The texts are a continuous effort to elaborate upon his first impressions of persons, places and experiences in Ecuador. Here, they are listed in chronological order.

---------------------. “Dear God, I Hope I Don´t Have to Eat Dogs.” The San Francisco Chronicle  18
October 1964: 8-9.
---------------------. “Or. . .How I Learned to Outwit the FBI.” The San Francisco Chronicle, This World 25
October 1964.
---------------------. “Like College, Army and a Jail Sentence.” The San Francisco Chronicle 25 October
1964.
---------------------. “How to Discover Yourself.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 27 December 27
1964:  10-11.
---------------------. “Traversing the Teeth.” The San Francisco Chronicle 10 January 1965: 14-15.
---------------------. “Byron and the Pigs.” The San Francisco Chronicle, This World 17 January 17 1965.
---------------------. “Drama and Trauma On. . . .” The San Francisco Chronicle 14 February 1965:  22-23.
---------------------. “Ecuador; A Country of Much Diversity.” The San Francisco Chronicle 7 March, 1965:
14-16.
---------------------. “Victor’s Great Dream.” The San Francisco Chronicle 21 March 1965.
---------------------. “Lost Village in The Jungle.” The San Francisco Chronicle 28 March 1965.
---------------------. “The Stranger in La Union.” The San Francisco Chronicle 11 April 1965.
---------------------. “The Culture Shock of Silent Death.” The San Francisco Chronicle 25 April 1965.
---------------------. “What ARE You Doing Here?” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 2 May 1965.
---------------------. “The Revenge of the Inca.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 3 October            1965.
---------------------. “The Village Across the Green River.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &            Chronicle 31 October 1965: 18.
---------------------. “Happiness is Chickens.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 28            November 1965: 18-19.
---------------------. “Chicken Soup & Jungle Madness.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle            26 December 1965.
---------------------. “Gringos, Groseros and the Eternal Gap.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &            Chronicle 16 January 1966: 20.
---------------------. “Hombre, We Don’t Do It That Way.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &            Chronicle. 13 February 1966.
---------------------. “Dios Mio, What Things of Horror.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle            6 March 1966.
---------------------. “The Night They All Drank Beer With The. . ..” The San Francisco  Chronicle 20 March
1966: 22-23.
---------------------. “The Garden of Cungillo.” The San Francisco Chronicle 3 April 1966: 20.
---------------------. “A Strange War of Tastes.” The San Francisco Chronicle 8 May 1966: 18-19.
---------------------. “The Living is Too Easy.” The San Francisco Chronicle. 22 May 1966: 25-26.
---------------------. “Who Likes Okra Anyway?” The San Francisco Chronicle 5 June 1966: 18-19.
---------------------. “A Land of Loneliness and Deferred Dreams.” The San Francisco Chronicle 19 June            1966: 22-23.
---------------------. “Ecuador’s Chicken Economy.” in The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 3
July 1966: 18-19.
---------------------. “Girls, Sucres, &….” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner& Chronicle 17 July 1966:
18-19.
 ---------------------. “The Gringos Mystery.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 31 July 1966.
---------------------. “All Gringos Living in Ecuador are Crazy.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &
Chronicle. 21 August 1966.
---------------------. “So It Rained and Rained and. . . .” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 18
September 1966.
---------------------. “The Wrong Fight.” The San Francisco Chronicle 2 October 1966.
---------------------. “The Time of the Tijeras.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 16
October 1966.
---------------------. “Jorge and the Texans.” The San Francisco Chronicle. Illegible 1966.
---------------------. “Hodido with Eggs.” The San Francisco  Chronicle 13 November 1966: 22.
---------------------. “Little Hodido Dump.” The San Francisco  Chronicle 20 November 1966: 28-30.
---------------------. “The Pain of Not Being….” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 4
December 1966: 26-27.
---------------------. “The Good ‘Witch’ of the Jungle.” The San Francisco Chronicle. 18 December 1966:
21-22.
---------------------. “Pancho’s Chicken Crisis.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 15
January 1967: 20-21.
---------------------. “A Time of Sad Departure.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 5            February 1967: 22-23.
---------------------. “Fiesta of Independence.” The San Francisco Chronicle 5 March 1967: 18-19.
---------------------. “The New Lust for Gold in Ecuador.” The San Francisco Chronicle 26 March 1967: 18
19.
---------------------. “Mission to Grave Mound.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 16 April
1967: 18-19.
---------------------. “Salty Taste of Defeat.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 7 May 1967: 19-20.
---------------------. “Ramon’s Tale of Sadness.” The San Francisco Chronicle. 4 June 1967: 21-22.
---------------------. “A Puzzling Act of Violence on the Beach.” The San Francisco Chronicle 25 June 1967:
22.
---------------------. “The Stormy Seas of Poverty.” The San Francisco Chronicle 23 July 1967: 18-19.
---------------------. “On the Edge of Madness.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 13
August 13 1967: 20-21.
---------------------. “Sound and Fury of Cooperation.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 3
September 1967: 17.
---------------------. “The Chocho Loses the First Round.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle
24 September 1967: 20.
---------------------. “A Beautiful Breakfast with a Big Wheel.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &
Chronicle 15 October 1967: 20, 22.
---------------------. “There was ‘No Hope. . .without Dope’.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &
Chronicle 12 November 1967: 24-25.
---------------------. “The Uncooperative Co-op.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 10 December
1967: 21-22.
---------------------. “Tarzan and the Poisonous 2-4-D.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 7
April 1968: 20-21.
---------------------. “All Gringos Living in Ecuador are Crazy.” The San Francisco Sunday Examine r &            Chronicle 21 August 21: 1966.
---------------------. “Politics of a Dry Lagoon.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 12 May 1968:             22-23.
---------------------. “Big Game in Rio Verde.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 7 July            1968: 20-21.
---------------------. “Water and Witches.” The San Francisco Chronicle This World. 10 November 1968: 27            28.
---------------------. “Africans of Ecuador.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 8 December            1968: 24-25.
---------------------. “The Golden Rung on Life’s Ladder.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle            12 January 1969: 20.
---------------------. “U.S. Aid Loses Its Green and Goes Dormant.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &            Chronicle 9 February 1969: 24.
---------------------. “An Adam before the Apple.” The San Francisco Chronicle This World. 23 March, 1969:            26-27.
---------------------. “Wealth and Power at $8 a Month.” The San Francisco Chronicle 20 April, 1969.
---------------------. “The Many Circles of Perpetual Poverty.” The San Francisco  Chronicle 1 June, 1969:            24-25.
---------------------. “Miracle at Rio Verde: The Cat Cometh.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &
Chronicle 8 June, 1969: 23, 26.
---------------------. “Do You Really Think God is Kind?” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle            20 July, 1969.
---------------------. “Well, How Does It Feel Now That Your . . .Gringo Is Gone?” The San Francisco            Chronicle This World. 15 February, 1970: 24-25.
---------------------. “The Reappearance of ‘St. Peter’.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 11 April,            1971.
---------------------. “An Ecuador Homecoming—To Revolution.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &            Chronicle 16 May, 1971: 20-21.
---------------------. “The Terror of Changing Roles in Ecuador.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World            16 May: 1971.
---------------------. “A Gregory Peck-Type Pioneer in the Ecuadorian Jungle.” The San Francisco Sunday            Examiner & Chronicle 12 December 1971: 26.
---------------------. “Ecuador Farm with Trees Worth $500,000 Each.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner            & Chronicle 9 January 1972: 28.
---------------------. “In Pizarro’s Shadow.” The San Francisco Chronicle. This World 9 April 1972.
---------------------. “A Poetic Vision of Ecuador.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 30            April 1972.
---------------------. “Man’s Losing Battle with the Jungle.” The San Francisco Sunday Examiner &            Chronicle 11June 1972: 20.

Secondary Bibliography

Criticism

Alemán Alvaro. Vida y obra de Moritz Thomsen en
http://spanish.ecuador.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/book/alvaro-aleman.pdf <http://spanish.ecuador.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/book/alvaro-aleman.pdf> , an essay, in Spanish, which presents a general outline of Thomsen as  a writer and which explores possible directions for future scholarship.

Caesar, Terry. Forgiving the Boundaries: Home as Abroad in American Travel Writing. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995. One of the few academic Works that touches upon Moritz Thomsen, the text deals with the shared characteristics of so called American Travel Literature, from Herman Melville up to Moritz Thomsen. It is mainly a formal study of the shared traits of this kind of writing. The MT work which receives greatest attention is The Saddest Pleasure.

Covert, Marc. “Howls from a Hungry Place.” Smokebox. 2003.
http://www.smokebox.net/archives/word/thomsen11101.html.This is, surely, up to the publication of this issue of LiberArte, the most complete commentary yet on the complete works of Moritz Thomsen. The text consists of three parts (part I - Living Poor/Part II—Moritz Thomsen’s Farmon the River of Emeralds/ Part III - The Saddest Pleasure: a Journey on Two Rivers, and My Two Wars). The Peace Corps Writers page has republished the text in
http://peacecorpswriters.org/pages/2001/0111/111pchist.html.

Fieweger, Mary Ellen. “Fame ma non troppo.” a penetrating essay written by a personal friend and authority on Moritz Thomsen, can be found in http://www.usfq.edu.ec/liberarte/thomsen/.

Garnier, Philippe. “Incinérateur en panne.” Libération, May 16, 2002. Provides commentary on and context for Moritz Thomsen´s works. The website for the French publication is
http://www.liberation.fr/culture/livre/128608.FR.php.

Hirschkind, Lynn. “Redefining the ‘Field’ in Fieldwork.” Ethnology 30.3 (1991): 237-249. An anthropological essay that reflects upon current practices in Fieldwork, the text compares Moritz Thomsen´s  Living Poor  to Norman E. Whitten´s  Black Frontiersmen. Both books deal with the same settlement and at roughly the same time. Hirschkind makes a powerful argument in favor of polyphony in ethnological study and favors Thomsen´s honesty and directness.            

Miller, Tom. “Introduction.” The Best Travel Writing 2005: True Stories from Around the World. Ed. Larry Habegger et. al. Travelers´ Tales, 2005. An introductory essay that covers the main traits of good travel writing. Moritz Thomsen´s contributions to the genre are made clear.

Stegner, Page. “Introduction.” My Two Wars. South RoyaltonVermont: Steerforth Press, 1996. A narrative on the history of the manuscript that would eventually become My Two Wars and a commentary on Thomsen´s contribution to the War Memoirs subgenre.

Stegner, Wallace. Untitled. The Farm on the River of Emeralds Vintage Departures. New York: Vintage/Random House, 1989. A one-page introductory note.

Theroux, Paul. “Introduction.” The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers. St Paul Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 1990. Critical/anecdotal essay on the work of Moritz Thomsen by a well known contemporary American writer.
---------------------. “The Exile Moritz Thomsen.” Fresh Air Fiend: Travel Writings. Mariner Books, 2001. A reprint of the 1990 Introduction to The Saddest Pleasure.

Miscellaneous

Alemán, Alvaro. “Viviendo pobre.” La Casa no 48. La revista de la Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana. Quito: CCE, May 1, 2006. Spanish translation of an excerpt from Bad News in a Black Coast.
Also in  http://cce.org.ec/index.php?action=pubpermanentes&id_maepub=10.

Belnap, Nuel and Michael Perloff. “The Way of the Agent.” Studia Logica, Holland: Springer, 51.3-4 (September, 1992). A study on Mathematical Logic Published in a Philosophy Journal. One of the footnotes refers to The Saddest Pleasure.

Blair Necessities. A blog in which one of MT’s handwritten letters is scanned and placed online. The letter was posted from Brazil during the time in which Thomsen was composing The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers. The letter consists of two pages, is transcribed and has an option for magnifying its content. A good place to get a sense of MT’s calligraphy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blairnecessities/135661274/

Cobbs Hoffman, Elizabeth. All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s. Boston: Harvard UP, 1998. Excellent historical overview which contextualizes the creation and growth of the Peace Corps. Discusses Moritz Thomsen´s  Living Poor.

Covert, Marc. “Biography.” Basic biographical information relative to Moritz Thomsen, written by one of his biggest supporters. Covert has a formal biography in the works, the text originally appeared in
http://www.confederatebooks.com/mt.html

Coyne, John. “Moritz Thomsen died in Guayaquil.” John Coyne Babbles. 26 January 2007
http://peacecorpswriters.blogs.com/johncoynebabbles/2007/01/moritz_thomsen_.htmlA retelling of Moritz Thomsen´s death. Includes a letter by Mary Ellen Fieweger to close friends of Thomsen. Also appears in Page Setgner´s Introduction to My Two Wars.

Ellington, Elisabeth and Jane Freimiller. A Year of Reading: A Month-By-Month Guide to Classics and Crowd-Pleasers for You and Your Book Group. Sourcebooks, 1992. Living Poor appears as an important recommendation in this book, which offers information for starting book clubs.

Goldberg, Natalie. “Lotus in Muddy Water.” Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's Craft. Bantam: 2001. An entire chapter dedicated to an encounter with Moritz Thomsen in  Guayaquil in Joseph, Pat. “The Saddest Gringo: Moritz Thomsen in Exile.” Salon Wanderlust. 14 July 1998
http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/07/14feature.html. Journalistic recounting of an encounter with Moritz Thomsen in Guayaquil during the last year of his life.

Lowry II, Mark. “The last days of Moritz Thomsen.” South American Explore 51 (Spring 1998). More news of Moritz Thomsen´s last days, covered by an American Academic abroad, working with second hand reports, who never had any contact with Moritz Thomsen. This account has been strongly refuted by Thomsen scholars. Reissued in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Writers and Readers, July, 1998.

Luber, Ken. Film script which makes use of all of Mortiz Thomsen´s writing and experience. A sample of the  finished script can be found in
http://www.kenluber.com/screenplays/living_poor.pdf
“Moritz Thomsen.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 October 2007.            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritz_Thomsen.

Palmerlee, Danny, Carolyn McCarthy and Michael Grosberg. Lonely Planet.Ecuador, Lonely Planet Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands. 7th ed. Lonely Planet Publications, 2006. Suggests reading material for travelers in Ecuador. Living Poor is recommended as an indispensable text.

Sherfey, Florence E. Wind in his sails: A biographical novel based on the life of early Spokane's Moritz Thomsen. Lawton Printing, Inc., 1987. This is a fictional biography of Moritz Thomsen I, patriarch of the Thomsen clan in the US and Moritz Thomsen´s grandfather and namesake.

Simmons, Mary Beth. “Volunteers, Radicals, and Saints: Memoirs of Purpose.” Center for Peace and Justice Education, University of Villanova. Fall 2006. A collage course that includes in its reading list excerpts of Moritz Thomsen´s works.

Thurston, David H. “Slash/Mulch Systems: Neglected Sustainable Tropical Agroecosystems.” Cornell University. http://www.ppath.cornell.edu/mba_project/ETHURSTON.html. A fascinating study on sustainable agricultural systems in the tropics. The author makes reference to Moritz Thomsen´s experience as a farmer in Living Poor, in particular his experience with slash and burn planting. The author transcribes fragments of Thomsen´s experience in order to demonstrate the problems of importing foreign technology from one part of the world to another. The text appears in Spanish as “Sistemas de Corte y Cobertura: Los Olvidados Agroecosistemas Sostenibles del Trópico,” in
http://www.ppath.cornell.edu/mba_project/STHURSTON.html, which provides one of the few Spanish translations of Moritz Thomsen´s work. The name of the very good translator is omitted in this second version.

Tidwell, Mike. The Ponds of Kalambayi. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1990. Provides a rare Moritz Thomsen blurb in the dust jacket: “Written with humor and anger, despair and awe. . . This is an important book.”

Reviews

Arnold, Stanleigh. “An Explosive Jungle Envelops a Farmer.” Rev. of The Farm on the River of Emeralds. San Francisco Chronicle, 20 August 1978: 51.

Baber, Asa. “Magic and Wisdom from the River of Emeralds.” Bookweek rev. of The Farm on the River of Emeralds The Sun Times 18 June 1978.

Barabasz, A.F. “Bookfare” rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. National Geographic Traveler March/April 1991: 132.

Cahill, Tim. Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. New York Times Book Review 10 June 1990: 48.

Clavel, Andre. “Chronique de deux guerres perdues.” LeTemps.ch January 29, 2005.
http://www.letemps.ch/livres/Critique.asp?Objet=3314

Clee, Nicholas. “Book News, Lit Ed’s Choice.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. The Bookseller 22 February 1991.

Coleman, Michael. “Book Reviews: Social Sciences.” Library Journal. 121. 8 (May 1996): 104.
Daniels, A.M. Yanqui dolour. Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. Times Literary Supplement 10 May 1991: 21

Ebert, Roger. “Glimpses of Joy in a Tale of Woe.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. The Literary Review April 1991.

Fisher, Joe. “The Moral Man Who Wanders Latin America.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. Clipping without a source.

Fox, C.J. “Brazil nutcases.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. The Independent 23 May 1991.

Garnier, Philippe. Reviews French editions (Phebus) of Moritz Thomsen´s works “La fievre monte a rio verde” in Libération, May17, 2002, also in
http://www.liberation.fr/culture/livre/128609.FR.php

Glazebrook, Philip. “A bourgeois fleeing up the Amazon” reviews  The Saddest Pleasure. The Spectator 29 June 29 1991.

Handelman, Howard. Rev. of The Farm on the River of Emeralds. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 24. 1 (February, 1982): 115-122.

Johnson, Dean. “Non fiction not recommended” Public library handout. Rev. of Living Poor. Washington Young Adult Review. (Fall 1990.)

Jones, Susan. Rev. of The Farm on the River of Emeralds. Library Journal 103.13 (1978): 1398.

Kennedy, D. “Travels with my art” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. New Statesman & Society 19 April 1991: 32.
(Last name illegible), Michael. “Travel Books.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. The Financial Times 13 April 1991.

Lipez, Richard. “The Warrior's Home Front” Reviews My Two Wars in The Washington Post. 20 May 1996: D02

Lipez, Richard. “Meditations along the Amazon” Reviews The Saddest Pleasure  in The Washington Post. 18 March 1990: X05.

Milam, W. Lorenzo. Rev. of My Two Wars. R  A  L  P H  The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities 25.1 (Late Spring 200). Also in
http://www.ralphmag.org/AO/briefs.html

Moran, Jacques. “Équateur. La Ferme sur le rio Esmeraldas, de Moritz Thomsen a pour cadre un pays ravagé par la pauvreté. Un gringo dans la forêt vierge.” Rev. of French Edition of The Farm on the River of Emeralds. L´Humanité, June 13, 2002, online in
http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2002-06-13/2002-06-13-35467

Newsham, Brad. “From the Mire of Wealth to the Jungles of Amazonia.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. Clipping with no source.

Otness, Harold M. Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers. Library Journal 115.4 (1990): 107.

Rérolle, Raphaelle. “Les guerres de Moritz Thomsen.” Rev. of French ed. of My Two Wars. Le Monde de Livres January 28, 2005. LeMonde.Fr.
http://www.lemonde.fr/cgibin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=A
T_ARCH_30J&objet_id=886406

Reference to The Saddest Pleasure in New Statesman & Society 19 April 1991:  33.

Rev. of  Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. New Republic 29 November 1969: 40.

Rev. of The Farm on the River of Emeralds, French ed.. “Moritz Thomsen : l’autobiographie américaine de Don Quichotte.” Etudes, revue de culture contemporain. 403 (July-August 2005).

Schewerin, Karl H. Rev. of Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. American Anthropologist 73.2 (1971): 462-463. Online on October 26, 2004.
(http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/aa.1971.73.2.02a01110)

Stuttaford, Genevieve. “Forecasts: Nonfiction.” Publishers Weekly 1 April 1996: 66.

Summerside, Patricia. Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. Worldandi.com.
http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/1990/september/Sa18364.htm. The text originally
appeared in The World & I September 1990.

Togersen, Eric. Rev. of Living Poor. Nickel Review April 1971.

Webster, Dan. “At a Glance.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers.

SpokesmanReview.com. 9 January 2003.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/interactive/bookclub/interviews/interview.asp?IntID=15.
---------------------. “Washington writers produced a lot of fine books last year, but only 10 earned
            Governor’s Awards.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure, winner of the Washington State Governor’s Award for Memoir. Spokane Spokesman Review. 12 May 1991.

Wesley, Mary. “Sad Wanderer.” Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. Weekend Telegraph 20 April 1991.

Wilson, Jason. Rev. of The Saddest Pleasure. London Magazine April/May 1991.

Worrall, Janet. Rev. of Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. The Hispanic American Historical Review 50.3 (August, 1970): 610-611.

Prizes

In 1991 Moritz Thomsen receives the Governor Writer´s Award--today the Washington State Book Awards—for the second time for his book The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers. Thomsen had already received the award for his first book Living Poor a Peace Corps Chronicle in 1969.

Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award. Thomsen was the first recipient of this distinction, in 1990, for his entire output. The Paul Cowan prize for non fiction takes its name from Paul Cowan, a Peace Corps Volunteer who lived and worked in Ecuador. Cowan is the author of The Making of An Un-American, a text that deals with his experience as a volunteer in Latin America during the 1960s. Cowan acquired a following as an activist and political columnist for The Village Voice. He died of leukemia in 1988.