Published: Sep. 19, 2011
Words: 131,221 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780956325815

Short description

'Business as Unusual' meets 'The World According to Garp' and 'Adrian Mole' meets 'No Logo' as 'Saving the World' charts the progress of Nathaniel Papulous from a dysfunctional childhood in English suburbia to the frontlines of the battle against the global tyranny of the transnational corporations.

Extended description

Dealing in an accessible and humorous way with major topics of concern today (the failures of our economic system, media monopolies and materialism), 'Saving the World' has been praised by academics (Prof. Bruce K. Alexander - 'Dangerous to the status quo. It offers people a glimpse of hope.' and Prof. Gregor Gall - 'An avid social observer, Swanepoel mixes Naomi Klein and Michael Moore with Brookmyre and Banks') and in numerous publications, including Resurgence magazine: 'A delicious mixture of messianic message, wicked satire, sweet romance and utter hilarity'.

'Business as Unusual' meets 'The World According to Garp' and 'Adrian Mole' meets 'No Logo' as 'Saving the World' charts the progress of Nathaniel Papulous from a dysfunctional childhood in English suburbia to the frontlines of the battle against the global tyranny of the transnational corporations.

Driven by a desire to win the affections of Rosemary, his childhood dream girl, and an obsession with modelling the ageing p.. (Read more) Dealing in an accessible and humorous way with major topics of concern today (the failures of our economic system, media monopolies and materialism), 'Saving the World' has been praised by academics (Prof. Bruce K. Alexander - 'Dangerous to the status quo. It offers people a glimpse of hope.' and Prof. Gregor Gall - 'An avid social observer, Swanepoel mixes Naomi Klein and Michael Moore with Brookmyre and Banks') and in numerous publications, including Resurgence magazine: 'A delicious mixture of messianic message, wicked satire, sweet romance and utter hilarity'.

'Business as Unusual' meets 'The World According to Garp' and 'Adrian Mole' meets 'No Logo' as 'Saving the World' charts the progress of Nathaniel Papulous from a dysfunctional childhood in English suburbia to the frontlines of the battle against the global tyranny of the transnational corporations.

Driven by a desire to win the affections of Rosemary, his childhood dream girl, and an obsession with modelling the ageing process on computer, things often go wrong for Nathaniel, but he makes it in the end, founding the International Hope-ist Movement and bringing Bear Mudrock, ruthless media tycoon, and Tyrone Silversmith, manipulative pharmaceuticals boss, to their knees. Along the way he faces many temptations and distractions, develops an interest in Pre-Raphaelite art and a passion for Scottish traditional music, and undergoes extensive plastic surgery. Ultimately he discovers what really matters in life... and saves the world.

Themes

*The machinations of global corporations in their quest to maximise profit and obey the diktats of market forces, regardless of harm to people and the environment.

*How the above may be overcome - detailed strategy.

*The destructive effect of poverty and injustice on the human spirit and body.

*The power of advertising and the media.

*The exploitation of and fostering of women's insecurities by the so-called beauty industry.

*The vulnerability of the human conscience.

*The power and nature of love - requited and unrequited.

*The importance of music and a sense of community.
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Tags

romance, humor, media bias, satire, humour, revolution, economics, visionary, media influence, visionary fiction, tax avoidance, media power, media activism, utopian vision, media and society, utopian thought, media moguls, utopian fiction, poltics

Available ebook reading formats

Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

Format	Full Book	Sample First 20%
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	Buy	View sample
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Buy	Download sample
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Buy	Download sample
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Buy	No sample available
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Buy	No sample available
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)	Buy	Download sample
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Buy	Download sample
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Buy	No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	Buy	No sample available

Videos

The book they want to ban: "Saving the World" by R. Eric Swanepoel
A fun video to let people know about the ebook version of "Saving the World", published by Synchrony Books. Please note that I own NONE of the rights for any of the video material sampled.

Musicians unite against an ebook!
A second fun video to let the world know about "Saving the World".

A film about a book: "Saving the World"
My third tongue-in-cheek promotional video about my ebook, "Saving the World". Note that I do not own the rights to any of the short video clips used and neither do I own the rights to the music, which is the copyright of Fiddlers' Bid and comes from their Hamnataing album, as acknowledged in the video. (Please visit their website: www.fiddlersbid.com). My website is www.synchronybooks.co.uk.

Reviews

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Review by: Marnia Robinson on Nov. 13, 2011 :
Saving the World has all the epic, philosophical grandeur of Atlas Shrugged, but with a working compass at its core. Its uplifting idealism, courtliness and playfulness are both refreshing and inspiring. Those who revel in clever wordplay are in for a special treat.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: lindsalba on Oct. 23, 2011 :
Swanepoel's novel takes you on quite a journey, through the lives of the insanely wealthy and powerful to the very poorest. It starts as a right of passage novel but ends with world-changing ideas. It is peppered with humour that had me laughing out loud, especially at his thinly disguised changes of real names, companies, places. Funny but at the same time it takes you on an emotional journey and points out a lot about the world and how it functions, which makes you pause to think.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Reason for report:
— Select a reason — Book is or contains spam Book infringes copyright Same content is published elsewhere with different author (for ex., by private-label rights) Duplicate Incomplete work (such as sample or serial) Should be marked adults-only Category is inappropriate Poorly formatted Nudity or other inappropriate content on cover Nudity or other inappropriate visual content in book Inappropriate erotica content Cover image is improper Content is inappropriate Other violation of Terms of Service Other reason not shown above.

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