The White Man in the Tree

is a comedy of cultural misunderstanding set in the Caribbean, New York and Paris, a novella and eight stories about people who, because of their differences - between men and women, blacks and whites, Jews and Christians, rich and poor - misjudge each other.

Celebrated for his non-fiction, Mark Kurlansky is equally at home with fiction: he has an ability to unmask our foibles and write about love with great wit and humour.

Whether it is a sophisticated European filmmaker, an ambitious young black Haitian woman, a promising politician obsessed with women's feet, or a fish-out-of-water rabbi in search of a kosher chicken in Curacao, each of Kurlansky's characters engages us with impulses and interactions that are by turns comic, insightful and poignant.

The White Man in the Tree is an affectionate portrait of a unique society, where Europe, America, Africa and Asia meet Latin America. Filled with surprises and delight as Kurlansky approaches each scene from a new and unexpected angle, The White Man in the Tree is a tender, wholly original and thoroughly entertaining fiction debut.