Trained in the way of the Samurai, dreaming of the City of Brotherly Love, Hiro Tanaka impetuously jumps ship off the coast of Georgia - only to wash up on a barrier island populated by rednecks, descendants of black slaves, and a colony of crazed artists. Terrifying one islander - literally - to death, and fleeing not only from the Immigration Agents but also an elderly lady convinced he is Seiji Ozawa, Tanaka is unwittingly caught up in a hilarious and irretievably complicated spider's web of misunderstandings. His sole refuge on the island, the manipulative and ambiguous novelist Ruth Dershowitz, only draws him in ever deeper "Hilarious. A talented entertainer with a beady eye for the absurdities of culture shock." - "Guardian". "Boyle has a fine descriptive eye and peoples the novel with wonderfully absurd characters." - "Time Out".