Here at WoWasis, we’ve never read a Sterling Seagrave book that we could easily put down. We were glued to our chair, reading The Yamato Dynasty: the Secret History of Japan’s Imperial Family (1999, ISBN 0-7679-0496-6) by Seagrave and his wife Peggy Seagrave, when our back gave out, and we were now really glued to […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Literature' Category
WoWasis book review: Iris Chang’s ‘The Rape of Nanking’
When we at WoWasis attended Iris Chang’s funeral in 2004, it became apparent to us, after the heartfelt tributes of her friends and family, that she was Japan’s final Nanking victim. For a number of years, Chang lived and breathed the Nanking massacre as she was writing her book. After it was published, the ghosts, […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Boye De Mente’s ‘Some Prefer Geisha’
This wonderful book, written by Boye De Mente as a tribute to the geisha was printed in Japan, but occasionally can be found in used bookstores. The full title is Some Prefer Geisha: the Lively Art of Mistress-Keeping in Japan (1966) and it boasts some lively brush and ink illustrations by Tadahito Nadamoto interspersed throughout […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Christopher Seymour’s ‘Yakuza Diary’
One of the joys of visiting used bookstores is finding past gems, like Christopher Seymour’s Yakuza Diary: Doing Time in the Japanese Underworld (1996, 0-87113-604-X). Seymour, in riding around with and interviewing various Yakuza, seems to be, by the end of the book, clearly a fan of the Yakuza subculture. There are loads of great […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Sterling Seagrave’s ‘The Marcos Dynasty’
Travelers to the Philippines will invariably want to find out more about the history of the country after having seen it, but good books (and bookstores!) in the Philippines are hard to find. In particular, books on Philippine history are virtually impossible to be found anywhere. In the picturesque northern Luzon city of Vigan, for […]
Read the rest of this entry »Welcome to the WoWasis China Bookshelf
Chinese philosophy and business practices have long influenced Southeast Asia. Here at WoWasis, we found the following books to be especially compelling for Westerners, as the information in the books on this list, while particular to China, helps to explain much about life in Southeast Asia. We’ve grouped them into Nonfiction and Fiction categories. Nonfiction […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis Book review: Perfect Spy, the Life of Pham Xuan An
Perhaps the most apt introduction WoWasis found to the amazing world of North Vietnam’s super spy Pham Xuan An was discovered during a tour we took of the Cu Chi war tunnels, just outside of Saigon. Our tour guide was Binh Le Thai, a member of the Viet Cong who worked for American interests while […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis banned book review: Paul Handley’s ‘The King Never Smiles’
As it says on the back cover, “Any journalist or academic who takes an interest in Thailand soon learns that one topic is off limits: the modern monarchy.” It also mentions that “it is dangerous, and one risks expulsion or jail for lèse-majesté” for reporting on sensitive matters relating to the royal family. And thusly, […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis Book review: Timothy Hallinan’s ‘Breathing Water’
Breathing Water: A Bangkok Thriller (2009, ISBN 978-0-06-167223-1) is Bangkok Fiction writer Timothy Hallinan’s current foray into the ongoing saga of travel writer Poke Rafferty and his family, ex- bar girl Rose, and adopted daughter Miaow. The novel is rather timely, in terms of what’s been happening politically in Bangkok during the first half of […]
Read the rest of this entry »Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye: how Warren nearly met his demise
Here at WoWasis, we keep a pretty sharp eye on ways to meet one’s end in Southeast Asia. One of our favorite true stories was told by private eye Warren Olson, whose book Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye: True stories from the case files of Warren Olson is a must read (more info at […]
Read the rest of this entry »
