by Mic Looby (and edited by the one and only Michael Williams)

There are precious few places still untouched by tourism. Paradise Lost? More like Paradise Packaged,Marketed and Sold in Easy-to-Enjoy Portions. And if there’s money to be made shining light into the darkest corners of the world, SmallWorldTM wrote the book on it.

Robert Rind is a legend in travel writing circles, fiercely independent and resolutely old school. Too old school. The Company decides he’s a liability and sends young, pliable Mithra to tropical Maganda to take his place. But the guidebook writer’s life isn’t all bustling street markets and five-star resorts: as any seasoned traveller knows, things rarely go as planned and Robert Rind is unlikely to come quietly.

Mic Looby’s masterful debut novel weaves a hilarious and hair-raising tale of compromised idealism and corporate skulduggery. You’ll never open another guidebook without reading between the lines.