The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family

The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family Farm in Africa

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 countryâ‚¬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 Zimbabweâ‚¬s president Robert Mugabe launched his violent program to reclaim white-owned land and Rogersâ‚¬s parents were caught in the cross fire, everything changed. Lyn and Ros, the owners of Driftersâ‚¬â€œa famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains that was one of the most popular budget resorts in the countryâ‚¬â€œfound 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, Rogersâ‚¬s parentsâ‚¬â€œwith the help of friends, farmworkers, lodge guests, and residentsâ‚¬â€œamong them black political dissidents and white refugee farmersâ‚¬â€œcontinue 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.
Country USA
Brand Broadway Books
Manufacturer Crown
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 657184
Color White
ReleaseDate 2010-09-07
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780307407986

Country	USA
Brand	Broadway Books
Manufacturer	Crown
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	657184
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2010-09-07
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780307407986

The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family Farm in Africa