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 enlarge | Author: J. Maarten Troost
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $3.36
You Save: $9.59 (74%)
New (60) Used (72) Collectible (2) from $3.36
Rating:  100 reviews
Sales Rank: 6204
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0767915305
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.099681
EAN: 9780767915304
ASIN: 0767915305
Publication Date: June 8, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Ships SAME or NEXT business day. We Ship to APO/FPO addr. Choose EXPEDITED shipping, receive in 2-5 business days. See our member profile for customer support contact info. We have an easy return policy.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A fun read - not as salacious as the title indicates - this is a good thing November 26, 2007
Just finished this and no, it wasn't a naughty book. It tells the story of a man who lived two years on Tarawa, a teeny-weeny island in the middle of nowhere. J. Maarten Troost has excellent voice and it was a pleasure to be stuck on an island with him. The title? A marketing ploy, I'm sure.
Here is one of favorite passages:
"Stealing, I was told, was a major offense in the I-Kiribati culture. I could see why. There is absolutely no good reason for stealing in Kiribati. That is because of the bubuti system. In the bubuti system, someone can walk up to you and say I bubuti you for your flipflops, and without a peep of complaint you are obliged to hand over your flipflops. The following day, you can go up to the guy who is now wearing your flipflops, and say I bubuti you for your fishing net, and suddenly you have a new fishing net. In such a way, Kiribati remains profoundly egalitarian."
Who needs government social aid in such a culture? Troost goes on to describe how the local people avoid well-paying jobs (leaving those to the I-Matangs -- the outsiders, who can refuse bubuti) as there is no point taking a good job as the bubuti demands would leave one worse off than before.
I learned a lot, and it was a pleasant read -- a good summer travelogue.
 A delighful adventure in spite..... October 24, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
....the tough times, it will be an adventure that will be remembered for a life time. Good read! Eva-Christ Check out this link for another adventurous, sexy, read.
 Except For The Writing, It Was A Good Book October 21, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
The story starts slow, then gets interesting, then falters, then hits it's pace. Not bad, not great.
A great escape October 2, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am well known among my friends as someone who is bored with any book that is not, often painfully so, educational about the world around me. I don't read to fall asleep, I read and then cannot sleep. This is one of the first books in ages that not only kept my attention without stabbing pains of guilt and dispair but literally had me laughing out loud. It was a nice break from my books of Rwanda, Burma, the U.S. Economy etc etc...
Not so good September 17, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I thought the book was boring and didn't even finish it. Something was lacking there to draw the reader along through the story.
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