Moonzoo
This impressive début novel from New Zealander Paul Hewlett is a fast-paced satire on ownership, collective responsibility and the morals of our political and corporate masters. Billed as an ecological ‘fable for our times’, it is a comic tale of benign, technologically advanced aliens who visit Earth with a view to purchasing Antarctica. Worried that mineral mining will shortly defile ‘Earth’s jewel’ the aliens propose a deal whereby they replace the continent with an identical facsimile, putting the original on display in Moonzoo, an intergalactic theme park, along with many other treasures of the Universe.
The bargain will be sweetened by the transfer of technology which will eliminate poverty, hunger and inequality. The negotiating aliens have thoughtfully attempted to ‘blend in’ by taking the physical forms of Elvis Presley and the polar explorer Roald Amundsen!
Unfortunately, despite approaching the US President, the Pope, the UN and the King of England, all they meet is suspicion, duplicity and intransigence from the ranks of the great and good. Throw in a troupe of Elvis-worshipping monks, assorted swamis and gurus and a military hell-bent on nuking the aliens and the chances of success look bleak.
However, one individual, the young sculptor Tanya Voce, may just hold the key to the deal, if only everyone can stay alive long enough and Elvis can be persuaded not to sing again?
Fresh, funny and riotously entertaining, Moonzoo asks all the right questions about who owns the planet and who has the right to trade in what rightly belongs to us all.
- Product information
- by Paul Hewlett
- Publisher
- Fictionland
- Product number
- ISBN 0 473 09451 7
- Star rating
- Product link
- www.fictionland.co.nz
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Voices from the margins:
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- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
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- Vinayan from India on agriculture
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