There's a story by Daphne Lee about a remarkable young man called Gerald Chuah who wrote a book about his favourite actor and films when he was feeling down and depressed in his early '20's. In the Eye of the Tiger: Survival Principles from Sylvester Stallone's Life and Films has finally been self-published by Chuah to coincide with the release of Rocky Balboa, the sixth film in the Rocky series.
The article tells how Chuah managed to pass the manuscript to Stallone when he was in Singapore, and how Jackie Stallone (Sylvester's mum) supported the project, even appearing at the launch with Chua. And now famous motivational speaker and author Bob Proctor has offered to publish the book internationally.But Tan Siow Chin reviews the book in the supplement but seems decidedly underwhelmed by it. And while I'm so glad that Chuah has the courage to believe in his dreams, I'm horrified to think that anyone would put out a self-published book which isn't properly proofread, let alone carefully edited.
Among the other reviews: Dina Zaman's I Am Muslim is reviewed by Farish Noor, Amirul B. Ruslan reviews Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski (and whilst I don't think the book sounds like my cup of tea, am impressed with the 17 year old reviewer! Keep writing, kid!); Ooi Si Min reviews No Dram of Mercy - Sybil Kathigesu's memoir detailing how she gave medical aid to both civilians and members of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army; and (surprise surprise!) Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil talks about her reading, reveals herself to be a Hanif Kureishi fan (me too!) and reviews very nicely Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb. My dear friend Kaykay seems now to be writing under his real name as Krishna Kumar, and reviews Hannibal Rising.
And there's much much more!
*(The book is also included in Faces of Courage which was until recently a "restricted" book).
