J.F. Gump
J.F. Gump is one of the more compelling authors in the genre.
Although much of the action in his novels takes place in Pattaya, many of the elements of classic Bangkok Fiction are present in his writing.
The author was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, about eighty miles south of Pittsburgh.
After graduating from technical school he worked as a field engineer in various cities such as Boston, Washington DC, Raleigh, and Cincinnati.
In the late 1960s, he served in Vietnam.
In 1995 he had an opportunity to work on a large project in Thailand.
Gump told Thai Oasis:
“During the ensuing years, I made more than twenty trips to Thailand.
I spent more time there than I did at my home in the US.
Part of my time was spent in Bangkok, but most of it was spent in the beach resort city of Pattaya.
Long before my work assignment was finished, I'd fallen in love with the country.
“Like most visitors to another country I tried hard to learn about the people and their culture.
When they talked, I listened.
When they told me stories about themselves, I asked questions and shared stories of my own life.
I'm sure I heard many lies and fantasies, but I know I heard many true stories as well.
Some were happy and some were sad, but all struck emotional chords I could never forget.
I decided to put their stories on paper.
Some tales are just too good not to be told.”
We weren’t prepared for the emotional and gut-wrenching roller coaster that J.F. Gump took us on during the final thirty or so pages of the fascinating Even Thai Girls Cry (2004, ISBN 974-619-212-7), but it represents damn good writing, and we re-read it twice.
Although most of the action occurs in Pattaya and Chiang Mai, this novel contains most elements of the Bangkok Fiction genre, including an extremely strong Thai female protagonist, and a western man dealing with the challenges of life and love in Thailand.
Much of the talent of this exceptional writer lies in his ability to infuse his characters with the complex strata of issues driving the emotions of Thai characters. Gump’s book is a must-read for anyone contemplating romantic involvement with a Thai, and desirous of getting a broader picture of the influences that family, death, and Buddhism may bring to bear on the relationship.
About “Thai Girls,” Gump writes: “When I decided to write ETGC, I made a conscious choice not to write about the "bad bar girls."
A lot of the scenes in this book actually originated from the stories told to me for the price of a lady drink (sometimes several lady drinks).
But it seemed to me that there was more to Thailand than the "entertainment industry."
Because I was working in Thailand, I had become keenly aware that most Thais are real people with real emotions.
They laugh, they cry, they hate, and they love.
I was lucky enough to see two sides of Thailand and I had stories from both.
I mixed the two together and ETGC was born.”
Following “Thai Girls,” Gump wrote two more books to complete a trilogy, utilizing many of the same characters.
The Farang Affair (2006, ISBN 974-85123-6-3) is essentially a love story with Dickensian-like plot and more gut-wrenching emotional sequences.
Happily, it doesn’t descend into the bathos that is all-too-often the stock and trade of writers addressing romantic themes, and his use of the concepts of unpredictability, coincidence, and chaos keeps the reader on one’s toes.
Set in Phitsanulok, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya, the book uses the bar scene dynamic as a matter of day-to-day life, where people and events ebb and flow as they would pretty much anywhere in the world where people play, work, love, and die.
This normalization of life surrounding bars is refreshingly different from the “golly wow, I’m not in Kansas anymore!” perspective offered by many of the writers newer to the genre.
The writer provided us with an interesting background to the book:
“Parts of this novel was originally in ETGC but it had become way too long and so I moved selected scenes to The Farang Affair.
Some readers of ETGC asked if I could write a book with a happy ending and I decided to try.
I never knew how hard it was to write a story with a happy ending.
It took longer to finish than I ever imagined.”
It’s our opinion that One High Season (2006, ISBN 974-85129-3-2), the last book in the trilogy, places Gump not only in the company of the best writers in the genre, but may provide the launching pad that will propel him to some degree of international notoriety.
Season is a continuation of the story of Mike Johnson and the friends, families, and lovers that weave in, out, and through his life.
In a style reminiscent of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet, Gump’s tales are never what they originally seem, and truth is only as absolute as the next iteration of the story, as told by yet another character.
Again, Gump shows a superior understanding of Thai customs and philosophies as they relate to farang, and weaves them seamlessly into yet another intricate plot resplendent with what now may be considered his trademark emotional twists and turns.
These books are powerful, compelling, and take a lot out of the reader.
Gump’s a master of character development, and, once we finished the final page, we found it difficult to let his characters leave our lives as easy as we’re supposed to.
We are now left to wonder if there’s a fourth book in the series coming up.
If there isn’t, this trio of interrelated books remains among the finest bodies of work we’ve yet to read in the Bangkok Fiction milieu.