Overview

"In the Marshall Islands, an island-nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that was once a testing ground for nuclear bombs, American engineers and programmers are making and testing missiles while their ""hosts,"" the indigenous Marshallese, sweep their streets and clean their houses. It's 2004, the Iraq war is heating up, and 9/11 is fresh in everyone's minds. Following four interconnected story lines—the meltdown of a burned-out cultural liaison who has ""gone native"" and bitterly resents his role in keeping the Marshallese down; a young programmer who has lost his leg in a reckless solo sailing journey; the struggles of a young widow with two children whose husband drowned in a mysterious diving accident; and the destructive spiral of a Marshallese teenager whose American girlfriend rejects him when she returns to the States—Missile Paradise is an epic, heartbreaking, and satirical novel about the clash of cultures between the Americans trying to realize their American Dream in this seeming paradise, and the Marshallese who are both angered and bedazzled by that dream."

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9781632460097

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Reviews

Tanner...brings this microcosm of human folly and valor to captivating realization with bracing insights, tangy humor, profound respect, and rebounding resonance. --Booklist (Starred Review) The themes here are major--global warming, imperialism, America's role in the world (the story is set soon after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal). But Tanner displays a light touch, favoring snappy dialogue over didacticism. The result is winning. --Kirkus Tanner...is at his best when depicting the very human flaws, obsessions, and prejudices his characters face, all against a vivid island background where summer never seems to end and social progress is at a standstill. --Publishers Weekly A moving, ethnologically brilliant tale of imperialism and insularity, this is one of those rare novels that actually opens our eyes. Wonderful stuff. --Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland and The Dog Ron Tanner's imagination astounds me. It's been a long time since I've met a group of characters as uniquely flawed and uniquely enthralling as those who populate his fabulously tragicomic novel MISSILE PARADISE. You will follow them to the ends of the earth to find out what happens--and I mean that just about literally. --Julia Glass, winner of the National Book Award, author of Three Junes Ron Tanner is a gripping and transformative writer and Missile Paradise is exactly the sort of novel I want to read, stepping away from America to look back at it with a fresh set of eyes and recalibrate the lens through which we define who we are. --Bob Shacochis, National Book Award winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul Missile Paradise is a breathtaking example of narrative control, the way Ron Tanner so effortlessly weaves his threads together. This is a unique, complex, and compelling story--unlike anything I've read before. -Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang Tannerbrings this microcosm of human folly and valor to captivating realization with bracing insights, tangy humor, profound respect, and rebounding resonance. Booklist (Starred Review) The themes here are majorglobal warming, imperialism, America's role in the world (the story is set soon after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal). But Tanner displays a light touch, favoring snappy dialogue over didacticism. The result is winning. Kirkus Tanner...is at his best when depicting the very human flaws, obsessions, and prejudices his characters face, all against a vivid island background where summer never seems to end and social progress is at a standstill. Publishers Weekly A moving, ethnologically brilliant tale of imperialism and insularity, this is one of those rare novels that actually opens our eyes. Wonderful stuff. Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland and The Dog Ron Tanner's imagination astounds me. It's been a long time since I've met a group of characters as uniquely flawed and uniquely enthralling as those who populate his fabulously tragicomic novel MISSILE PARADISE. You will follow them to the ends of the earth to find out what happens--and I mean that just about literally. Julia Glass, winner of the National Book Award, author of Three Junes Ron Tanner is a gripping and transformative writer and Missile Paradise is exactly the sort of novel I want to read, stepping away from America to look back at it with a fresh set of eyes and recalibrate the lens through which we define who we are. Bob Shacochis, National Book Award winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul Missile Paradise is a breathtaking example of narrative control, the way Ron Tanner so effortlessly weaves his threads together. This is a unique, complex, and compelling story--unlike anything I've read before. -Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang A moving, ethnologically brilliant tale of imperialism and insularity, this is one of those rare novels that actually opens our eyes. Wonderful stuff. Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland and The Dog Ron Tanner's imagination astounds me. It's been a long time since I've met a group of characters as uniquely flawed and uniquely enthralling as those who populate his fabulously tragicomic novel MISSILE PARADISE. You will follow them to the ends of the earth to find out what happens--and I mean that just about literally. Julia Glass, winner of the National Book Award, author of Three Junes Ron Tanner is a gripping and transformative writer and Missile Paradise is exactly the sort of novel I want to read, stepping away from America to look back at it with a fresh set of eyes and recalibrate the lens through which we define who we are. Bob Shacochis, National Book Award winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul Missile Paradise is a breathtaking example of narrative control, the way Ron Tanner so effortlessly weaves his threads together. This is a unique, complex, and compelling story--unlike anything I've read before. -Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang

A moving, ethnologically brilliant tale of imperialism and insularity, this is one of those rare novels that actually opens our eyes. Wonderful stuff. Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland and The Dog Ron Tanner's imagination astounds me. It's been a long time since I've met a group of characters as uniquely flawed and uniquely enthralling as those who populate his fabulously tragicomic novel MISSILE PARADISE. You will follow them to the ends of the earth to find out what happens--and I mean that just about literally. Julia Glass, winner of the National Book Award, author of Three Junes Ron Tanner is a gripping and transformative writer and Missile Paradise is exactly the sort of novel I want to read, stepping away from America to look back at it with a fresh set of eyes and recalibrate the lens through which we define who we are. Bob Shacochis, National Book Award winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul Missile Paradise is a breathtaking example of narrative control, the way Ron Tanner so effortlessly weaves his threads together. This is a unique, complex, and compelling story--unlike anything I've read before. -Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang

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