Author(s): Shanaka Fernando

General

Shanaka Fernando is often hailed as a modern-day revolutionary best known as the founder of the 'pay-what-you-can-afford' community Lentil as Anything restaurants in Melbourne, Australia. He was named Australia's Local Hero in the Australian of the Year Awards and was a guest judge on MasterChef alongside the Dalai Lama. - - - - - - - This book strips back the labels that have been slapped onto Shanaka's media-built poster boy persona and gives us an insight into some of the experiences that have shaped the man he has become. This entrancingly honest and refreshingly candid memoir hints at the roots of Shanaka's early social awakening with tales of a 1970s childhood in Sri Lanka's capital, Columbo. From his upbringing within an eccentric extended family living in a residential compound populated with a throng of memorable characters, we accompany the grown up Shanaka on his travels from Australia to Asia to South America and back as he explores new ways of living his life. - - - - - - - "Fernando is one of those rare pioneers who are prepared to live by their convictions, flaunt social convention and challenge the status quo. The story of his lifelong quest for meaning - and the 'experiment in generosity' that became Lentil as Anything - is inspiring and challenging in equal measure. Few autobiographies are likely to evoke the senses and soul quite as much as Fernando's tale of global travel, self-exploration and cultural innovation" - Dr Wayne Visser, Director of Kaleidoscope Futures and author of "The Quest for Sustainable Business" and "The Age of Responsibility"