The Perfect Culture: The Search for Paradise from a Monty Python Perspective

He’s seeking a place to belong. His only tool is philosophical satire...

Thomas Gephardt loses no love for his rural Indiana home. Struck with raging wanderlust, the small-town college student heads for France armed with nothing but a thirst for stimulating conversation. So starts Thomas’s ego-bruising first leg of his ill-fated quest for cultural perfection.

Struggling to fit in at the catty French cafés, Thomas expands his search to the bustling city streets of Japan and the quiet devotion of an Israeli Kibbutz. But after each stopover leaves him with more questions than answers, he worries no location will check every box on his ideal society list.

Thomas attempts to probe deeply into his experiences and to ponder big questions: What is the value of foreign travel? What is unique about each of these three cultures? How is each country shaped by its history? Will Thomas find his far-flung utopian land, or is this American expat lost in transit?

The Perfect Culture is a darkly satirical standalone travel novel.Thomas is seen as an alien in a French restaurant, he wonders if he can meet expectations as a "talking monkey" in Japan, and he learns that unlike in The Big Lebowski, he definitely cannot roll on Shabbos in Israel. If you enjoy candid cultural commentary and extensive internal reflections, then you’ll love Brent Robins’s international lampoon.

Buy The Perfect Culture for a tongue-in-cheek ticket to ride today!

"As the founding director of global education non-profit organization, I place great value on the theme (which is reinforced throughout the book). Travel can enrich you by exposing you to new experiences and different cultures.This book was a fun read and can serve as a helpful resource for any study-abroad student or first time international traveler."

-Dr. Yvonne Marie Andres, Founding Director of Global SchoolNet