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A Novel
by Yun Ko-eun
Welcome to the desert island of Mui, where a paid vacation to paradise is nothing short of a disaster in this "mordantly witty novel [that] reads like a highly literary, ultra-incisive thriller (Refinery29).
Jungle is a cutting-edge travel agency specializing in tourism to destinations devastated by disaster and climate change. And until she found herself at the mercy of a predatory colleague, Yona was one of their top representatives. Now on the verge of losing her job, she's given a proposition: take a paid "vacation" to the desert island of Mui and pose as a tourist to assess the company's least profitable holiday.
When she uncovers a plan to fabricate an extravagant catastrophe, she must choose: prioritize the callous company to whom she's dedicated her life, or embrace a fresh start in a powerful new position? An eco-thriller with a fierce feminist sensibility, The Disaster Tourist introduces a fresh new voice to the United States that engages with the global dialogue around climate activism, dark tourism, and the #MeToo movement.
"South Korean author Yun's spare but provocative novel offers perceptive satire laced with disconcerting imagery ... Yun cleverly combines absurdity with legitimate horror and mounting dread. With its arresting, nightmarish island scenario, this work speaks volumes about the human cost of tourism in developing countries." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[A] mordantly witty novel ... This propulsive novel reads like a highly literary, ultra–incisive thriller; it reminds us that the disasters with which we are now grappling with on a near daily basis are not acts of god, they're acts of man." —Refinery29
"This tale of complicity and denial (reintroduced in a new English translation by Lizzie Buehler this summer) feels nauseatingly on point this year. Hurtling from a Seoul office building to a remote desert island in Southeast Asia, Yun's late–capitalist satire makes the case that the identity we find through work is almost always shaped by how we have been exploited—or how we have exploited others ... As in the real world, death in The Disaster Tourist becomes more optional the more powerful you are." —The Atlantic
This information about The Disaster Tourist was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Yun Ko-Eun is the author of several novels and short story collections published in South Korea. She is a recipient of the Hankyoreh Literary Award, the Lee Hyo–seok Literary Award, and the Kim Yong–ik Literary Award. The Disaster Tourist is her second book to be published in English. She lives in Seoul, South Korea.
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