"This smart stylish satire sends up the absurd artifice of the modern world through the context of disaster tourism, with understated poetry packing powerful punch."
Yun Ko-eun’s The Disaster Tourist is a triumph of originality and slick, satirical style. It’s a richly wry, cuttingly dark comedy that shines a light on the absurdities (and ethical dubiousness) of certain tourism practices, and on modern life more generally, with its understated lyricism packing poignant punch.
Through Yona, we certainly see the bizarreness of the world we live in. A world in which a thirty-three-year-old woman works for a travel company that specialises in disaster tourism package holidays. To compensate Yona for being sexually harassed by him, her boss allows her to take a break on one of the trips they’re thinking of axing. What a deal! What a way to deal with harassment! Yona goes on the trip to the remote Vietnamese island of Mui, where the major attraction is a supposedly catastrophic sinkhole. When she becomes trapped here, the island takes on the appearance of “a theme park that wasn’t yet open”. Then, after making a hideous discovery, cutting truths are revealed like exposed nerves amidst escalating absurdity - and tragedy. Quite brilliant.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
WINNER OF THE CWA CRIME IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Yona has been stuck behind a desk for years working as a programming coordinator for Jungle, a travel company specialising in package holidays to destinations ravaged by disaster. When a senior colleague touches her inappropriately she tries to complain, and in an attempt to bury her allegations, the company make her an attractive proposition: a free ticket for one of their most sought-after trips, to the desert island of Mui.
She accepts the offer and travels to the remote island, where the major attraction is a supposedly-dramatic sinkhole. When the customers who've paid a premium for the trip begin to get frustrated, Yona realises that the company has dangerous plans to fabricate an environmental catastrophe to make the trip more interesting, but when she tries to raise the alarm, she discovers she has put her own life in danger.
The Disaster Tourist features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, General Fiction, Fiction, Book Club Recommendations, Recommendations, Humorous Fiction, Shorter Reads, Fiction in translation, Fiction: special features, Books of the Month, Star Books
The Disaster Tourist is available in Paperback
The Disaster Tourist was written by Yun Ko-Eun and published by Serpent's Tail an imprint of Profile Books Ltd
The Disaster Tourist has 186 pages
£8.99
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