Guest Posted June 12, 2001 Report Share Posted June 12, 2001 Have just finished reading 'Private Dancer' from http://www.stephenleather.com/unpub.html As I cannot find any ref to it on the old board now I'd like to know if anyone would agree that it should be compulsory reading for anyone contemplating coming to BKK for Sanuk. I just wish I'd read it before arrival With over 1000 members on this board, who has read it & can you relate to it?? [ June 12, 2001: Message edited by: Blackie ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Gun Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I think it is probably the best thing I've read from all of the 'scene' related books. It is also probably the most depressing and, I would imagine, the most difficult to comprehend unless you have some experience of Thai nightlife. For that reason I would say that it would be a complete waste of time for newbies, they just wouldn't get it. If you hadn't had the rather dubious benefit of your own version of this story, I think you would have dismissed it as a bag of shite. By the time I had finished it I was left with the feeling that I wouldn't be surprised if, after 6 years, I suddenly discovered my wife's boyfriend. Kind of a ludicrous reaction to a cheap (free!) novel, but it was that powerful. LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I was not able to put it down. I can say that it was not one of the best written books but it brought back memories. but as you ask “ should be compulsory reading for anyone contemplating coming to BKK for Sanuk.” I don’t think so, but I believe anyone coming to Thailand for Sanuk should do as much research as possible to make the trip be what they want it to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 Not for newbies to the scene, there are too many things happening that have the "you had to be there" type of reference. I cannot imagine getting much out of it before my first trip. Personally I didn't like the book, the format is annoying in my opinion and I don't think it's particularly well written. Maybe because it's not been through the hands of an editor? Read it by all means but read it again on your return for a fuller understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I liked the book a lot, mostly for it's familiar setting, but I do think that the characters were a bit flawed. Pete was a little too stupid and Joy was a little too shallow. It probably wouldn't have interested me as much if I had never been to Thailand. - FB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 Maybe I'm just odd, but I don't really give a damn about reading about Thai bars. If I want to go to one, I go. If I don't, I stay home ... and maybe read about something else. p.s. Comment often made by S. Tsow: Bangkok writers who write about the bar scene will never get rich, since the only people who will read the books are people like us -- and we are a small minority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 From: Long gun quote: If you hadn't had the rather dubious benefit of your own version of this story, I think you would have dismissed it as a bag of shite. Maybe, but I can certainly relate to a lot of it, unfortunately, even now, with new faces & bodies and I've become a bit ruthless, which I don't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I agree with flashermak (though i always thought "woman of BKK" a well written book, with much better thai psychology and conundrum than Leather's). The problem with that novel is that he pushed the character's flaws too far, and it became a story that could have come out from any red light district in the entire world (ever seen the movie "Blue Angel" with Marlene Dietrich, bY G. Pabst?). i will always say: if bar girls were only prostitutes, we'd never fly all the way for a trick or some. The truth is somewhere else, and this is why newbies would have no real insight on the whole scene by reading this. [ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: pattaya127 ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAsiaHand Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I'm obviously in the minority here, but I hated the book, and worse, it embarrasses me that Leather has made no secret of telling everyone that it's really a true story about him. I've always thought of Leather as a fine writer, but boy does the protagonist of this book come across like a self-rightous jerk and a pompous asshole. If it were really me, I'd at least want to keep my mouth shut about it. I can't understand why Leather seems proud of it. Anyway, the progress of the main character through the book really falls into two distinct periods. In Part I, he is so hopelessly stupid and such a fumbling jerk(yeah, I know, there really are a lot of people like that) that you avert your eyes out of sheer embarassment at what a moron he is, and then in Part II he suddenly turns into a vengeful prick who just wants to hurt anybody he can to get even with all the nasty Thais who have done him wrong. He comes off to me like a spoiled, ignorant, Western adolescent, hardly a role model you ought to hold up for visitors to Fun City. Let's at least try to have a little class here, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zanemay Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I agree with the msg of Pattaya127. I also say that to get the most out of anything you have "put your heart into it." When I "put my heart into it" with a Thai lady, I have to do it carefully. If I see warning signs I heed them. I vow to never get so involved that I can't just walk away. I am in three relationships right now. I would hate doing it, but I could walk away from any of them if the girls got too money focused. You cannot let books like Private Dancer and messages of downtrodden board members cause you to put up an emotional wall (if you are the kind of person that likes to get emotionally involved.) The girls are individuals and so are the sanukers. Stereotypes are too shallow. Zane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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