THOMSON, Andrew 1963(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1963, in Wellington, New Zealand, son of missionaries; married; wife's name, Suzanne (a Red Cross worker); children: Clara.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York and Cambodia. Agent—Miramax Books, c/o Hyperion Editorial Department, 77 W. 66th St., 11th Fl., New York, NY 10023

CAREER:

Physician. United Nations Medical Services Division, Cambodia, Bosnia, Haiti, Rwanda, and New York 1993-2004.

WRITINGS:

(With Kenneth Cain and Heidi Postlewait) Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth, Miramax Books (New York, NY), 2004.

ADAPTATIONS:

Miramax TV optioned Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth for a television series.

SIDELIGHTS:

After nearly two decades quietly serving as a physician for international agencies, Andrew Thomson made headlines in 2004 with a controversial book, Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth. The book condemned the United Nations for neglect, corruption, and even atrocities in its various peacekeeping missions around the world. Apparently as a result, Thomson's UN contract was not renewed, and his case became a political cause.

Written with fellow UN staffers Kenneth Cain and Heidi Postlewait, the book—a Los Angeles Times best-seller—recounts their individual and joint experiences working for the UN in Cambodia, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Liberia, and Rwanda. Thomson recounts how, as a physician in Cambodia working with victims of that country's wars and government terror, he idealistically joined the UN team supervising Cambodia's first election. Maggie Farley wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the book "chronicled their precipitous slide from buoyant idealism to hard-bitten cynicism."

The book charges the UN with failing to prevent genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia. Marshall Manson noted in a review for the Center for Individual Freedom, that, according to Thompson, "in Rwanda, where 800,000 were killed, the UN had a peacekeeping force of 2,500 troops in place before the genocide began. The UN ground commander … sent a fax detailing the imminent genocide to UN headquarters. Kofi Annan, head of UN Peacekeeping, ordered him to stand down and do nothing." Salon.com contributor Suzy Hansen noted that the authors also sharply criticize the Clinton administration for its retreats from Somalia and Haiti. Thomson told Hansen about his experience in Haiti: "'Black Hawk Down' in Somalia led to a loss of nerve in the Clinton administration, and it led them directly to order that boat, the USS Harlan County, out of Port-au-Prince harbor.… and our civilian mission collapsed." As a result, he writes, Haitians who had testified about atrocities under U.S. and UN auspices were exposed to retaliation.

Burke G. Sheppard, in a review for StrategyPage.com, while praising the book's reporting, wrote that the authors "frequently come across as shallow and a bit full of themselves.… At times, Emergency Sex feels like an uneasy hybrid of MTV's The Real World and Apocalypse Now…. The juxtaposition of the endless partying and stylish living against the background of local tragedy, violence, and squalor is jarring." On the other hand, Sheri Fink, in the Wilson Quarterly, wrote, "In vivid and intimate first-person accounts that range from a few paragraphs to 15 pages, the authors sequentially list and reflect on experiences rarely exposed publicly." Jordan Mendenhall noted in Blogcritics.org that the authors "write beautiful, engaging prose that draws the reader to continue to be engaged with the development of the story."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson, Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth, Miramax Books (New York, NY), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2004, David Pitt, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth, p. 1260.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2004, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, p. 307.

Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2004, Maggie Farley, "The Jaded, Seamy Side of Peace," p. E1.

Newsweek International, June 21, 2004, Michael Hastings, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, p. 69.

New York Times, January 6, 2005, Judith Miller, "UN Eases Stand on Doctor Who Criticized Peacekeeping Role."

Publishers Weekly, March 8, 2004, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, p. 57.

Washington Times, May 27, 2004, Stewart Stogel, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.

Wilson Quarterly, summer, 2004, Sheri Fink, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, p. 119.

ONLINE

Agape Press Web site,http://headlines.agapepress.org/ (May 10, 2004), Bill Fancher, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.

Blogcritics.org,http://blogcritics.org/ (September 17, 2004), Jordan Mendenhall, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.

Center for Individual Freedom Web site,http://www.cfif.org/ (June 23, 2004), Marshall Manson, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.

Cybercast News Service online,http://www.cnsnews.com/ (December 15, 2004), Patrick Goodenough, "UN 'Whistleblower' Loses Job."

Government Accountability Project Web site,http://www.whistleblower.org/ (December 14, 2004), "Briefing Points for United Nations Whistleblowers Andrew Thomson and Heidi Postlewait."

Salon.com,http://www.salon.com/ (July 8, 2004), Suzy Hansen, interview with Thompson.

StrategyPage.com,http://www.strategypage.com/ (January 11, 2005), Burke G. Sheppard, review of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.*