Private Dancer

[allatsea2000]

Read that book on the plane going over, just wondering, and i dont know why, how many of the bars or places, or people are still around that were supposedly in the book

 

??????????????

[candyfloss]

I have to say that I thought it was a pretty ordinary read, full of the usual (man arrives Bangkok - meets bargirl - falls in love - falls out of love - plays it cool - gets drawn in - gets confused - ends in disaster) recurring theme consistent in just about every book ever written on the P4P Scene. Probably written by some mature student who has spent a few months in town with little or no real experience of the scene (unlike my goodself) and spending time observing or talking to expats. Doesn't anyone out there have any knew and insightful stories ?

 

In answer to your question, I guess the fat bastard (Big Dave?) is still round in Soi 4 peddling shite piss.

[khwaimaisabai]

candyfloss said:

Probably written by some mature student ....

Hi candy,

Actually, Stephen Leather is a very well established author of thrillers - some set in Asia, some not. He lives most of the time in Thailand, afaik. This book is different from his normal output and I was told that it is largely based on a true story.

I agree that the plot is not really original, the earliest version of which was (I believe) "A Woman of Bangkok". Interestingly that book was written in the 1950's, well before the Viet era, which shows that the influx of GIs was not the origin of the Thai bar girl.

In terms of the places, Jools is still there, as mentioned, and also Voodoo in NEP - Zombie in the book. My gf worked for a short period at Voodoo, on secondment from G-Spot, both part of Crown Group.

Khwai

[Old Hippie]

I thought the book nailed the punter really dead on...know the type, as I mentioned before, I was reading that book, while watching a similar situation unfold...ugly...I do agree, most of those books are all the same, I did think this one stood out a little differently, and I felt like I knew the characters...I don't of course...

[..]

khwaimaisabai said:

Actually, Stephen Leather is a very well established author of thrillers - some set in Asia, some not. He lives most of the time in Thailand, afaik.

Maybe, but I found that particular tome by him pretty much unreadable with the style used. Now granted, I read part of (could not finish it) the freebie PDF version, not the actual book. But if anything similar, it was pure crap that an eighteen year old student would have a hard time passing off in a creative writing course.

 

YMMV.

 

Cheers,

SD

[Julian2]

I bought the book at Don Maung and lent it to a mate in Australia, it took me a year to get it back off him. I found it interesting because I have never been into the Farang scene in Thailand even though I live here. I thought Leather had the girl pretty spot on, we think that there lives are one long party but the truth is much more complicate than that. I was a bit sceptical of the ending, all those guys finding true love after treating BGs like shit for years. I suppose it does happen though.

[Palatkik]

From what I remember of the book I downloaded in PDF off the net, the bars and characters were mostly fictional though you will find their likes anywhere on a given day. An interesting read for the uninitiated perhaps but a story that has been told time immemorial.

[Mekong]

Palatkik said:

From what I remember of the book I downloaded in PDF off the net, the bars and characters were mostly fictional though you will find their likes anywhere on a given day. An interesting read for the uninitiated perhaps but a story that has been told time immemorial.

 

Not as Fictional as you may realise. As previously mentioned FATSO's is Jools, and the book was written just after Big Dave had taken over so the "Regulars" were still the old Jools Crew from Kim's days.

 

Every event protrayed in the novel DID happen to someone at one time or another, what Stephen did was take the tales he had heard from numerous people and adapt them for his main characters of the novel.

 

I look at the book differently since a couple of my early years naieve mistakes are retold in it, and I know the real people behind half of the events thet are being retold.

[khwaimaisabai]

suadum said:

...... pretty much unreadable with the style used.

Hi sd,

Well - each to his own, but I've got to strongly disagree with you on that. The style - successive narratives from different characters, often about the same events but from a different angle - I thought was a truly brilliant approach to telling the story. I must admit I was not totally sure about the relevance of the inter-chapter recipes, though.

Khwai

[sayjann]

'I look at the book differently since a couple of my early years naieve mistakes are retold in it'

 

totally agree...............

 

maybe not the best book ever written but it does tell of the perils awaiting a newbie to Thailand.

i never read it until after my 3rd trip to Thailand and i could defiantely see myself in some of the situations described.

 

fell in love on my 1st.2nd AND 3rd trips,wanted to marry Girls and almost sent Money.

those TG's are good at fucking our minds up at times.

 

well me anyway.....................