The Land Near Oz: Two Gay Yankees Move to New Zealand

Author, humorist, and world traveler Aaron Allbright writes about the small and the grand mysteries of life in The Land Near Oz: Two Gay Yankees Move to New Zealand, his frenetically engaging memoir. With the wit of David Sedaris and the heart-song of Frances Mayes, Allbright socks a lot of charm in this winning travelogue. Alongside a fellow Fashion Island expat, the author moves from Laguna Beach to the land of flightless birds and cannibals. It's easy enough for him and his lover to fall for New Zealand, but whether their affection will be returned is a whole other matter. It ends up paradise has a striking resemblance to a seaside sheep station six stops after the end of the world. Here they befriend Maoris with traditional full face and body tattoos, the offspring of the whore-whaler-convict-missionary pioneers, a former member of Led Zeppelin, and a Texan named Big Mama as they work to raise money for the local primary school and get caught up in a real-life murder mystery.