Surviving Paradise Author:Susan L Rogers, John T. Roosen A rip-roaring adventure as John travels to Vanuatu and meets The World’s Least Ambitious Pirates, Smugglers and Thieves. His wife Susan and their three boys settle into New Zealand, the land known as Middle Earth. This is a Gauguin Painting come to Life, producing a high octane caper with even a courtroom scene beyond imagining. On these trop... more »ical islands, John meets up with Ben, an Australian who water-skis over the backs of crocodiles, natives who bungee-jump with jungle vines tied around their ankles, and a con artist extraordinaire who blows up ships with C-4 explosives to cleanup Port Vila’s Harbour while raining shrapnel down on local tourists. People dream of escaping to South Pacific islands with a vision of sultry perfumed nights, endless white beaches, fragrant flowers, and a life sipping piña coladas while sagging in a lounge chair by a glimmering warm sea. But this family discovers strange contradictions in this primitive land. The natives have unique and unusual ceremonies—pigs and chickens are passengers on local airplanes, penis gourds are the height of fashion, wives are bought for beads and mats, and sorcerers kill with spells and incantations. Delight in the steamy markets of the islands with 38 different types of bananas, laplap guaranteed to glue one’s mouth shut, coconut crabs powerful enough to rip the tires off a Land Rover, and oven baked fruit bats. Of course, there are also the recently reformed cannibals of Malakula. (While cannibalism was officially banned in 1969, it is still rumoured to exist.) Surviving Paradise poses a number of intriguing questions: Can this family find togetherness when adventure and danger tears them apart? Can one man really make a difference in a culture so different from his own? Are big dreams worth big sacrifices? Is life worth living without McDonalds, GameBoys, and Cuisinarts? And should the pig sitting next to you in coach pay full fare? This is an adventure story you don’t want to miss…« less