For readers of backpacker classics such as The Beach and Are You Experienced?; those who loved Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight; gap-year wanderers; those who feel the call of VSO - this is the perfect summer page-turner for airport shoppers or armchair travellers. Young, American and idealistic, the Whiteman bounds into the Ivory Coast with a deep desire to Make a Difference. But then the NGO's funding dries up and he's stranded, unable to establish a water supply for the village and with plenty of time on his hands. Taking place against the backdrop of bloody civil war, this is the story of a whiteman losing his aid-worker illusions and discovering a different, more complicated Africa: perplexing and brutal, beguiling and sexy.