- Paperback: 317 pages
- Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA); Reprint edition (7 Sep 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307407985
- ISBN-13: 978-0307407986
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1.7 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,089,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Thrilling, heartbreaking, and, at times, absurdly funny, The Last Resort is a remarkable true story about one family in a country under siege and a testament to the love, perseverance, and resilience of the human spirit.
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Douglas Rogers is the son of white farmers living through that country’s long and tense transition from postcolonial rule. He escaped the dull future mapped out for him by his parents for one of adventure and excitement in Europe and the United States. But when Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe launched his violent program to reclaim white-owned land and Rogers’s parents were caught in the cross fire, everything changed. Lyn and Ros, the owners of Drifters–a famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains that was one of the most popular budget resorts in the country–found their home and resort under siege, their friends and neighbors expelled, and their lives in danger. But instead of leaving, as their son pleads with them to do, they haul out a shotgun and decide to stay.
On returning to the country of his birth, Rogers finds his once orderly and progressive home transformed into something resembling a Marx Brothers romp crossed with Heart of Darkness: pot has supplanted maize in the fields; hookers have replaced college kids as guests; and soldiers, spies, and teenage diamond dealers guzzle beer at the bar.
And yet, in spite of it all, Rogers’s parents–with the help of friends, farmworkers, lodge guests, and residents–among them black political dissidents and white refugee farmers–continue to hold on. But can they survive to the end?
In the midst of a nation stuck between its stubborn past and an impatient future, Rogers soon begins to see his parents in a new light: unbowed, with passions and purpose renewed, even heroic. And, in the process, he learns that the "big story" he had relentlessly pursued his entire adult life as a roving journalist and travel writer was actually happening in his own backyard.
Evoking elements of The Tender Bar and Absurdistan, The Last Resort is an inspiring, coming-of-age tale about home, love, hope, responsibility, and redemption. An edgy, roller-coaster adventure, it is also a deeply moving story about how to survive a corrupt Third World dictatorship with a little innovation, humor, bribery, and brothel management.
From the Hardcover edition.
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Douglas Rogers is the son of white farmers living through that country’s long and tense transition from postcolonial rule. He escaped the dull future mapped out for him by his parents for one of adventure and excitement in Europe and the United States. But when Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe launched his violent program to reclaim white-owned land and Rogers’s parents were caught in the cross fire, everything changed. Lyn and Ros, the owners of Drifters–a famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains that was one of the most popular budget resorts in the country–found their home and resort under siege, their friends and neighbors expelled, and their lives in danger. But instead of leaving, as their son pleads with them to do, they haul out a shotgun and decide to stay.
On returning to the country of his birth, Rogers finds his once orderly and progressive home transformed into something resembling a Marx Brothers romp crossed with Heart of Darkness: pot has supplanted maize in the fields; hookers have replaced college kids as guests; and soldiers, spies, and teenage diamond dealers guzzle beer at the bar.
And yet, in spite of it all, Rogers’s parents–with the help of friends, farmworkers, lodge guests, and residents–among them black political dissidents and white refugee farmers–continue to hold on. But can they survive to the end?
In the midst of a nation stuck between its stubborn past and an impatient future, Rogers soon begins to see his parents in a new light: unbowed, with passions and purpose renewed, even heroic. And, in the process, he learns that the "big story" he had relentlessly pursued his entire adult life as a roving journalist and travel writer was actually happening in his own backyard.
Evoking elements of The Tender Bar and Absurdistan, The Last Resort is an inspiring, coming-of-age tale about home, love, hope, responsibility, and redemption. An edgy, roller-coaster adventure, it is also a deeply moving story about how to survive a corrupt Third World dictatorship with a little innovation, humor, bribery, and brothel management.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The author, now NY based, tells the true story of his parents experiences in Zimbabwe in a time of civil unrest & continued uncertainty about the future, while waiting for their backpackers lodge to be inevitably taken over/away by 'resettlers'
I just finished this book last night and loved EVERY minute of reading it, I couldn't put it down, read it flat in a few days, and laughed out loud often, as I could identify with it ALL, I learnt quite a few new (and sometimes eyebrow lifting) things about Mutare (my own home town in Zimbabwe) -its history, the people (black and white) and more amazing insights about the author's parents and their very real and sometimes harrowing experiences living outside of our little town. From the minute I started reading it, it felt like I was watching the author's parents playing themselves in a movie and the author has painted the pictures of their experiences so vividly. This is an amazing contribution to telling a real Zimbabwean family's side of the story, from our little part of the world and eastern corner of Zim. When I finished the last page I genuinely shed a tear, out of immense pride for the amazing country we have come from and grown up in, and our experiences living there. This book isn't just of interest or relevance to only those with a background in Zimbabwe or Africa, but for anyone with an interest in how things have REALLY been for those living through the struggles in Zimbabwe these many years, providing deeper insight and respect for the people of Zimbabwe, beyond the "media circus" portrayed by mainstream media about Zim to date. This book is about conflict, integration and ultimately survival through a period of immense (and ongoing) unrest in a magnificent and once prosperous country. A thoroughly enjoyable read!
I just finished this book last night and loved EVERY minute of reading it, I couldn't put it down, read it flat in a few days, and laughed out loud often, as I could identify with it ALL, I learnt quite a few new (and sometimes eyebrow lifting) things about Mutare (my own home town in Zimbabwe) -its history, the people (black and white) and more amazing insights about the author's parents and their very real and sometimes harrowing experiences living outside of our little town. From the minute I started reading it, it felt like I was watching the author's parents playing themselves in a movie and the author has painted the pictures of their experiences so vividly. This is an amazing contribution to telling a real Zimbabwean family's side of the story, from our little part of the world and eastern corner of Zim. When I finished the last page I genuinely shed a tear, out of immense pride for the amazing country we have come from and grown up in, and our experiences living there. This book isn't just of interest or relevance to only those with a background in Zimbabwe or Africa, but for anyone with an interest in how things have REALLY been for those living through the struggles in Zimbabwe these many years, providing deeper insight and respect for the people of Zimbabwe, beyond the "media circus" portrayed by mainstream media about Zim to date. This book is about conflict, integration and ultimately survival through a period of immense (and ongoing) unrest in a magnificent and once prosperous country. A thoroughly enjoyable read!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Don't miss reading this book, a fantastic story. The author captures not only the problems but also the funny side of Zimbabwe.It sounds like fiction but its not. Its a true life picture of Zimbabwe over the last few years.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jolly good book from start to finish and well worth a read. Often, it's knowing the country and the memories of people, places, foods and customs that makes these kind of books so successful. That said, while I am a Zimbabwean, I'm unfamiliar with Mutare and its surrounds, as well as a lot of the more recent history, and I actually enjoyed it all the more. Difficult to put down, I devoured this gem. Funny, honest, shocking. Covering the goings on in Zim up until August 2009, it really does give you an up-to-date on-the-ground perspective. Enjoy.
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