Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

This is the hilarious story of what happens when he discovers that the island is not the paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles with stifling heat, deadly bacteria, polluted seas, and toxic fish, in a country where the only music to be heard is "La Macarena." He and his stalwart girlfriend, Sylvia, contend with alarmingly large critters, a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis), and such bizarre local characters as "Half-Dead Fred" and the Poet Laureate of Tarawa, a British drunkard who's never written a poem in his life.

Average Customer Rating:

If you have ever traveled abroad or graduated with an MA in something unuseable	Customer Rating:
I laughed out loud more than I am really willing to admit. This book is for anyone who has taken a trip to the third world or ever graduated from college with the dream of working for an NGO. His writing is easy to read and hard to put down. I loved it.

great travel story	Customer Rating:
I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, informative, irreverant, and even a little sad, all at the same time. Being a person who has always wanted to travel to a distant tropical island, this book opened my eyes to some of the realities of living on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. Overall, the book was well written and fun to read.

Don't Let The Title Mislead You

Customer Rating:

This is NOT a fluff book. This is not steamy women's romantic fiction. This book is a witty, hilarious travelogue and from the line "red-arsed Llamas" I found myself laughing aloud. From the author's various descriptions of the setting's waste management challenges to the constant agonizing playing of the song "Macarena," to a diet composed entirely of fish and expired canned goods from Australia, you'll appreciate all you have by the time you finish this entertaining read.

Hilarious & Brilliant!	Customer Rating:
J. Maarten Troost is the best author! I love his work. He writes how I think. Witty, intellectually sarcastic and insightful!

See Hilarious and Poignant... Scroll down...	Customer Rating:
Fun read, a little repetitious but he made the point, unfortunately points out that tropical bliss has its significant drawbacks; love the writing style - tongue-in-cheek, irreverent. Will definitely search out other books by this author.