Peter Rudiak-Gould is currently pursuing a doctorate in anthropology at Oxford, focusing on Marshallese understandings of global warming. Proficient in Marshallese, the native language of the Marshall Islands, he is the author of the language textbook used by the WorldTeach volunteer organisation as its official language manual for the Marshall Islands program.
"[A]n extraordinarily engaging diary-portrait of a 21st-century castaway uncovering the everyday riches, enduring frustrations, and confounding contradictions of life in a South Pacific paradise." --Dan George in "National Geographic Traveler""[U]tterly unexpected, vivid, [and] blessedly funny."--Ernest Callenbach, author of bestseller Ecotopia and Publisher's Lunch "In "Surviving Paradise," Peter Rudiak-Gould has pulled off the improbable: turning a year spent on a remote Pacific island the size of a shopping mall into a memorable, moving narrative.""--"Tony Cohan, author of "On Mexican Time "and "Mexican Days""""" "In "Surviving Paradise," Peter Rudiak-Gould transcends and defies every travel-memoir cliche (i.e. 'I went there to save them, but it was they who saved me'), reinventing the notion of what travel writing can accomplish. Without ever resorting to an expected thought, he turns his anthropologist's eye to his year on Ujae with humor, sensitivity, intelligence, warmth, and wit. In transporting us to this tiny island, he ultimately casts a surprising light on human nature and the ways we inhabit and perceive the world around us. From his rollicking adventures in spear fishing to his efforts to master the Marshallese language, Rudiak-Gold has written a dynamic narrative of personal and global transformation that's a joy from departure to arrival."--Liza Monroy, author of "Mexican High""""" "With an eye for humor that is fresh and surprising, Peter Rudiak-Gould lays out the delightful ironies--and the vexing conundrums--of life in a traditional culture on the brink of change. His voice has that rare quality of a starry-eyed romantic who has gained wisdom and perspective by immersing himself in the unfamiliar. His tales from the edge of the world are at times deeply moving, quite often stunningly insightful, and consistently hilarious. I found myself grinning by page two." --Sarah Erdman, author of "Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an Afr
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