Faith, Beer, and Other Things That Interest Geoff

s the United Nations as bad as its critics claim? Alas, it is worse--far worse. The current oil-for-food scandal, involving the diversion of billions of dollars, is merely the tip of the iceberg. A good part of what lies below is now brought to light in this remarkable memoir by Pedro Sanjuan, that rarest of creatures, an American who served on the staff of the secretary-general for more than a decade. The U.N. Gang (Doubleday, 208 pages, $24.95) is not merely a tell-all expose; it is a vivid portrait of a peculiarly dysfunctional culture--with an uncomfortably specific recital of names, facts, and figures.