Neoliberals, neocons, revolutionaries, folk musicians, an ambassador's New Age wife, river-damming landslides, and one entrepreneurial idealist all collide in the Andean paradise of
Phillip Bannowsky's satirical romance,
The Mother Earth Inn. Hal Rivers, Bannowsky's feckless hero, descends into the Republic of Esmeraldas just in time for the elections of Bill Clinton back home and an insane populist in Esmeraldas. Hoping to do good while doing well, Hal ends up on a quest that is both picaresque and exposé.