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When husband and father JJ learns that his wife is having an affair, he does his best to make it work. However, an ultimatum from his wife that she be permitted to continue seeing her lover, and her husband, is enough to finally drive a wedge between JJ and wife, soon to become his second ex-wife. For JJ, he finds solace as a farang, or foreigner, in the bustling urban life around the world in Thailand. Like any open-minded American tourist, this inserts JJ squarely into a new life of drinking and spending nights with prostitutes on the weekends, while working in Singapore the rest of the time. JJ has to grapple with what he wants from these women, be it love, sex, friendship, or just to not feel so alone in a place so far from home.
While the quest to find oneself in strange surroundings may seem like typical fare for a contemporary novel about the emotional development of men, the frank honesty and no-holds-barred look at life in Southern Asia as a foreigner is powerful. From the history of the sites, the spiritual destinations, the food, the culture, and yes, the nightlife, this title paints a picture that is equal parts enticing and repulsive. That same dichotomy frames the main character in JJ, who to many might seem like your average person in the daytime, but picks up a new girl every night to bring to his hotel room. This dichotomy create more than a simple fish out of water story and instead forces readers to ask themselves difficult questions about their own choices. This is ultimately a solid piece of fiction that encourages the reader to imagine the world beyond their city or country, while at the same time turns their gaze inward.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review