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Get startedThe Disaster Tourist
A Novel
Narrator
Natalie Naudus
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Translator
Lizzie Buehler
Length
5 hours 2 minutes
Language
English
An eco-thriller with a fierce feminist sensibility, The Disaster Tourist engages with the global dialog around climate activism, dark tourism, and the #MeToo movement.
For ten years, Yona has been stuck behind a desk as a coordinator for Jungle, a travel company specializing in vacation packages to destinations devastated by disaster and climate change. Her work life is uneventful until trouble arises in the form of a predatory colleague.
To forestall any disruption of business as usual, Jungle makes Yona a proposition: a paid “vacation” to the desert island of Mui. But Yona must pose as a tourist and assess whether Jungle should continue their partnership with the unprofitable destination.
Yona travels to the remote island, whose major attraction is an underwhelming sinkhole, a huge disappointment to the customers who’ve paid a premium. Soon Yona discovers the resort’s plan to fabricate a catastrophe in the interest of regaining their good standing with Jungle—and the manager enlists Yona’s help. Yona must choose between the callous company to whom she’s dedicated her life or the possibility of a fresh start in a powerful new position. As she begins to understand the cost of the manufactured disaster, Yona realizes that the lives of Mui’s citizens are in danger—and so is she.
Yun Ko-eun is the author of several novels and short story collections published in South Korea. She is a recipient of the Hankyoreh Literary Award, the Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award, and the Kim Yong-ik Literary Award. The Disaster Tourist is her second book to be published in English. She lives in Seoul, South Korea.
Natalie Naudus is a Taiwanese American actor who started out as an opera singer, with a master of music from the University of North Texas. She has a passion for stories and characters, and her language training has allowed her to develop a skill for accents and convincing foreign language dialogue. She excels at unique character voices and passionate storytelling. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two daughters.
Lizzie Buehler is a freelance Korean translator and editor at Asymptote, based in New York City. She grew up in Texas and studied comparative literature at Princeton University.
Reviews
"[An] entertaining eco-satire.”
“Lays bare the inherent inauthenticity of the tourist experience—especially those that purport to be beneficial, even humanitarian, for the local community.”
“In this phenomenal book, Yun demonstrates how disaster tourism is a kind of theatre: people are ‘merchandise’, the reality tourists just ‘a shadow of reality.’"
“Yun’s late-capitalist satire makes the case that the identity we find through work is almost always shaped by how we have been exploited—or how we have exploited others.”
“This is an entertaining eco-thriller that sets out to illuminate the way climate change is inextricably bound up with the pressures of global capitalism.”
“This propulsive novel reads like a highly literary, ultra-incisive thriller.”
“A witty, unsentimental, grimly believable story that neatly weaves together sharp critiques of capitalism, the heartlessness it rewards, and the poverty, environmental disasters, and misogyny it engenders.”
“South Korean author Yun’s spare but provocative novel…cleverly combines absurdity with legitimate horror and mounting dread. With its arresting, nightmarish island scenario, this work speaks volumes about the human cost of tourism in developing countries.”
“A sharp sendup of society’s obsession with the next hot thing―and the steep toll it extracts on very real lives.”
“Ko-Eun’s ecothriller skillfully explores the intertwined themes of tourism, livelihood, greed, and the value of human life.
“A tightly plotted, whip-smart satire, and the stakes heighten with every page. Ko-Eun’s writing is unpretentious, deadpan, and often very funny.”
“A gripping literary thriller about disaster, adventure, and a crisis of conscience that will resonate with any traveler.”
“An endlessly surprising and totally gripping read, The Disaster Tourist is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking..”
“A labyrinth of catastrophes and cataclysms, The Disaster Tourist is a precisely penned novel that lays bare the human condition. Mysterious, evocative, and rich.”
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