Bangkok Beat - Softcover

Cummings, Kevin; Gartland, John; Locke, Thomas Hunt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0692396454 ISBN 13: 9780692396452

Publisher: Frog in the Mirror Press, 2015

Synopsis

"Bangkok Beat is a celebration of a movement, a group of irregulars who have taken a different path. [Cummings'] tour inside is like the first version of the Lonely Planet ; a first-hand, on the ground description of the expats and locals bonded through creativity, artistic expression, the bliss that comes from following your own demons and angels through the layers of heaven and hell."Christopher G. Moore, Shamus Award winning author of Asia Hand "Bangkok Beat is a flashlight in the dark." The Sunday Nation "[T]his is a fun read, told in a warm and humble voice devoid of literary pretensions or highfalutin prose, reminding readers of one of Bangkok's chief virtues: It's teeming with all sorts of eccentric expat characters endowed with hugely entertaining backstories." Jim Algie, Bangkok 101 Magazine book reviewer and author of Bizarre Thailand  "Cummings pools interviews with well-known brilliant creative individuals and ties that in with his own Californian childhood memories and his love of jazz. Read now or refer to later to find insights into some iconic expats who reside in a kind of Asian Montparnaisse district." Chad Evans, author of Vincent Calvino's World "Then there is Gop; a fictional frog who Kevin has interviewing a fictional detective, a truly surreal moment that, for me, personifies the surrealness that relocating to SE Asia can often produce."  Iain Donnelly, Editor of The Weekly Phnom Penh magazine for The Khmer Times   Bangkok Beat is a compilation of short stories, interviews, literature reviews and author profiles, plus the previously unpublished history and pictures of the iconic Bangkok cabaret nightclub, Checkinn99 located on Sukhumvit Road. In reading Bangkok Beat you will get up close with many well-known and not so well-known expats and characters staying in Thailand and Southeast Asia. You'll also find a section of noir poems by John Gartland, in which the author depicts life in the city's dark zone. Between the covers of Bangkok Beat you will get to know: champion male and female Muay Thai boxers, a surfing historian, a legendary mamasan, Chris Coles - noted expressionist artist of the Bangkok night, and a gold chain snatching ladyboy. You'll also encounter the inside of Baccara Bar on Soi Cowboy, an Australian front man for a Khmer band, a smiling waitress named Mook, a spirit house for a Hollywood screenwriter and producer, and the biographer for Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley. Plus world class musicians including Jason Mraz and a saxophone playing psychologist. In addition you'll find interviews and profiles of many well known novelists living in and writing about Thailand and Southeast Asia and one magician. This book of non-fiction is ably assisted with an introduction by Bangkok pulp fiction author, James A. Newman, a short story by T Hunt Locke titled The Beauty of Isaan and a chapter of noir verse written by the poet noir, John Gartland. Many of the 54 black and white photographs found in Bangkok Beat were taken by professional photographers Eric Nelson, Alasdair McLeod, and Jonathan van Smit.

About this title

From the Author:

Bangkok Beat is dedicated to the two best teachers I ever had during Act 1 of life, Tom Barry and Chic Wallgren. 

From the Back Cover:

"Bangkok 2015 is like Paris circa 1900 or Berlin in the 1920's & 30's, a vortex of noir where artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, journalists and musicians search deep into the darknesss for a glimpse of humanity and hope.....Kevin Cummings is one of the brave souls walking on the edge of the darkness in order to document its depth and breadth."
Chris Coles, artist & author of Navigating the Bangkok Noir  "In a Bangkok which is quickly destroying all signs of its past glories in favor of shopping malls, Checkinn99 stands as a beacon of hope to those of us old enough to remember it in all its mutations and still young enough to enjoy it as it is now. Bangkok Beat in a series of short stories, up close interviews, poetry and artist profiles, chronicles some of the amazing history, people and entertainment found in Bangkok and often at Checkinn99." Dean Barrett, author of Kingdom of Make-Believe, Hangman's Point, and Pop Darrell's Last Case

About this edition

• Publisher: Frog in the Mirror Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0692396454
• ISBN 13: 9780692396452
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 300
• Illustrator: Cotterill Colin