Launched

Playing catch up here with news of recent book launches.

One I haven't blogged about at all (and feel guilty for slipping up on!) was Amir Muhammad's tribute to our late great filmmaker, Yasmin Ahmad's Films.

The books was launched on 18 November at Sunway College because Yasmin had given a talk there just a few weeks before she died. Here's a recording of Amir's speech and you can read a bit more here :


Am planning to read the books alongside watching the DVD's ...

Below is a picture of Animah Kosai's daughter, Sarah, cutting the ribbon to launch Farish Noor's book What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You (another publication from Matahari books) at Central Market Annexxe. I took the pic from Liza Manshoor's Facebook page as my own attempt, taken from way back, was blurry and horrid.



The book was so hot off the press there was still steam rising from it. It is also an extremly beautifully produced book, illustrated throughout as you can see from these sample pages, and the content - which grew out of Farish's lecture series at the Annexxe - is fascinating on Malaysian culture and history, looking at it from fresh angles. (Small wonder then that Amir M managed to shift a record number of copies (149 copies in 2 hours!). Couldn't wait to start reading this and gobbled down the discussion of Hang Tuah going back on the LRT.

Here are a couple of videos from the launch - first very talented support act Dizzy & The, and then Farish's speech.






I also went along to Nik Nazmi's launch of both the English and Malay versions of his new book at Itudio Studio in Kelana Mall. (Here's Nik's account of the event.)The venue was bursting at the seems and handed out free saunas to all who were trying to crush inside (pre-requisite of being a politicians - you don't suffer from claustrophobia!). Selangor Chief Minister Khalid gave a very good speech and I appreciated the fact that he recited a poem by the late Usman Awang about the Malays.

I finished the book when I got home - it's very sensible and well-written, and as with Farish's book - you just hope that people will read and become that much wiser.

Biggest congrats to all.

Malays Moving Forward

I invited Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to guest blog about his new book and launch tomorrow :

Alhamdulillah, my first book is now out. It is published in English and Malay as Moving Forward: Malays for the 21st Century / Mendepani Zaman: Melayu untuk Abad ke-21. It is published by Marshall Cavendish Malaysia. Having written various essays for many publications, I have long dreamt of writing a book. This effort itself spanned a few years (even before 8 March 2008) but I finalised the draft this year. The discourse on Malays in Malaysia is shifting in the 21st century. I argue about how Malays must move forward to survive and succeed in facing today’s challenges: the emerging new politics, forging a people’s economy, resolving the education question, the position of Islam in a multiracial society and the unravelling of the social fabric. While race will remain important as an identity, Moving Forward challenges the assumption of the racial zero sum-game as, ultimately, the future of the Malays cannot be separated from Malaysians in general. The book is dedicated to my parents. YAB Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the Menteri Besar will launch my book tomorrow. The details are as follows: Date: 8 December 2009 (Tuesday) Time: 3.15 PM Venue: Itudio Studio, 31D-2 Kelana Mall, Jln SS 6/12, 47301, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia (map at http://www.itudiostudio.com/about-us) Contact: Saifullah 0378063660 / saifullah@niknazmi.com Dress code: Smart casual / office attire The book can now be bought at RM24.90 at major bookstores including Kinokuniya KLCC and Popular Bookstores. Distributors can contact the publisher through Michelle Low tel: 03-5628 5928 or michelle@my.marshallcavendish.com.

I plan to go and maybe will see you there?

ZI Publications' Double Book Launch

You're invited to a double book launch by ZI Publications :

I, Too, Am Malay - Zaid Ibrahim's bestselling book Saya Pun Melayu has been translated and is now available in English...

&

Velvet & Cinder Blocks - New York native Ioannis Gatsiounis' debut collection of short stories. (Author of Beyond The Veneer: Malaysia ’s Struggle for Dignity and Direction.)

Join us for this rare double book launch event - the event features both Datuk Zaid and Ioannis discussing their respective books, a Q&A session, autograph-signing, photo snapping....and yes, book buying too!

ALL ARE WELCOME. (Limited space/chairs, so do come early...)

Soft drinks and light snacks provided. (There're LOTS of restaurants downstairs for a proper meal afterwards!)

Details

Date: Friday, Oct 16th, 2009

Venue: PJLA, Jaya One, Jalan Universiti, PJ.

Time: 7.30pm

About the Books :

I, Too, Am Malay, is a collection of Zaid Ibrahim's innermost thoughts on values, attitudes and how future politics in Malaysia must be based on that which is positive and unites all ethnic groups. Tackling controversial issues such as Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy), the rule of law, and the role of the monarchy, Zaid speaks candidly but sincerely about the way forward for democracy in this country currently plagued by political crises.

A successful corporate attorney who created the nation's biggest law firm despite his humble origins in a village in Kelantan, Zaid's journey as a lawyer, politician and philanthropist is depicted here--from his resignation as a Minister and his sacking from UMNO, a party of which he had been a member for 23 years, to his analysis of the current Prime Minister's ability to restore the rakyat's confidence in the government.

I, Too, Am Malay, reveals the hopes and dreams of a Malay who sees the future of the Malays in a refreshed democracy that anchors on common sense and a profound understanding of their place in a world far larger than their own.

Velvet & Cinder Blocks - Gatsiounis' début collection of stories captures the spirit of the individual who struggles to define himself in a world where the idea of identity is both concrete and perpetually fleeting, a world where loyalties, friendships and family ties can alter in an instant. A young painter follows a false prophet deep into a desert. A pious rape victim struggles to see past her faith in the aftermath of a tsunami. A Chinese-American’s Chineseness is put to the test in multiracial Malaysia . A young Malay caretaker and his lone guest at a remote guesthouse struggle to find direction and compassion in an era of stark civilisational divides.

With these 10 well imagined and decadently engrossing stories, Gatsiounis offers us a timely, penetrating meditation on intimacy, alienation and triumph in the post-9/11 world.

If you want to attend then you must RSVP info@zipublications.com.my or call 603-78850020.

Here's the map :

Dan Brown Day

Two hundred signed copies of the book — said to be the only ones on sale in the world — had not sold out several hours after Waterstone’s opened the doors at its flagship store in Piccadilly, Central London, at 7am.

Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol was launched today, yet despite the hype hasn't been greeted with Harry Potter type enthusiasm, reports Mary Bowers in The Times. Apparently, about 40 people had queued from before dawn to secure copies of the book, including fans from Pakistan, Denmark and (wait for it) Malaysia.*

Early reviews in the New York Times and LA Times have been largely positive although David Sexton reviews the book in London's Evening Standard and finds it :

Moronic, derivative and clunky in fact everything his fans were hoping for.

Random House Australia marked the launch by roping in 40 to read the book from 9am, with the first to finish giving their review to the waiting press at noon. (And the world champion speed reader Anne Jones claimed to have devoured the 506-page novel in just 41 minutes and 55 seconds.)



Will there be another novel after The Lost Symbol? Perhaps you could write it with the help of Slate magazine's Dan Brown Sequence Generator. Very funny!

Postscript :

*Maybe all the British buyers had gone to the supermarkets to buy? The Guardian reports that :

Tesco was selling 19 copies a minute from displays next to its fruit and vegetables and Asda shifted 18,000 copies by 4pm.

Body2Body

Congrats to publisher Amir Muhammad, and editors Jerome Kugan and Pang Khee Teik for getting this project off the ground :

BODY 2 BODY: A MALAYSIAN QUEER ANTHOLOGY is the first of its kind: a compilation of original creative writing on the gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and transvestites of the country. Long denied a voice in the mainstream, the queers of Malaysia are boldly and fabulously represented in 23 stories, fiction and non-fiction. From coming out to coming home, breaking up to breaking down, changing sex to changing heart, the stories are different from anything you may have read in – or about – Malaysia.

A lot of very good writers have contributed stories to the collection, and I for one, can't wait to get my mitts on a copy :

1. Introduction - Jerome Kugan & Pang Khee Teik
2. What Do Gay People Eat? - Brian Gomez
3. Breathing Pure Oxygen - Cheryl Leong
4. Roommates: Not A Love Story - Sharil Dewa
5. The Wedding Present - Sonia Randhawa
6. The Man From Berali Carpets - Maya Tan Abdullah
7. And I Love You - Hwa Yi Xing
8. Hafiz's Dilemma - Ann Lee
9. Dude, Don't Tell Me - Kung Khai Jhun
10. The Friendship Dictator - Faizad Nik Abdul Aziz
11. Muslim 2 Muslim - Shanon Shah
12. Cream Of The Crop - Pang Khee Teik
13. Pirate Girl - Marisa Repin
14. Good Job - O Thiam Chin
15. Harry Is Dead - Shih-Li Kow
16. The Old Fig Council - Zed Adam
17. The Wives' Story - Tan May Lee
18. Have You Seen My Son? - Abirami Durai
19. Friends Of Everyone - Julya Oui
20. Monsoon Massage - Paul GnanaSelvam
21. The Naked Meme - Ray Langenbach
22. In Search Of - Ho Sui-Jim
23. Alvin - Jerome Kugan
24. Sunset - Azharr Rudin

I'm so glad that the project has finally come to fruition - I remember the idea being first floated on a writer's e-group I was a member of, and I clearly remember the utter rabidity of some of the reactions to it. I guess for me that, in itself, was an awakening.

The book has its launch on Saturday, August 15, 2009, 4:00pm - 5:30pm at The Annexe Gallery, Central Market Annexe. (See the event's Facebook page here.) And it is dedicated to those two very special women who died too soon :

Uthaya's New Collection

Another forthcoming book launch, this time of Uthaya Sankar S.B.'s new collection of stories in Bahasa Malaysia : Kathakali.

This event takes place 9:00 - 12:00pm on Sunday, July 12 at the auditorium at the National Library on Jalan Tun Razak, KL.

The book will be launched by the library's director Encik Raslin bin Abu Bakar and will be followed by a discussion about the book buku with Prof Madya Dr Lim Swee Tin.

If you would like to attend RSVP to infokavyan@yahoo.com before 10th July 4p.m.

Inspector Singh Investigates KL

Good writing comes from extensive reading, organised thinking and a willingness to take huge amounts of rejection and criticism on the chin. I think courses, etc., can teach a few skills and develop the confidence of the writer, but the only sure way of developing a unique voice and finding a story to tell is to try and try again—at home, in private, behind closed doors and for long concentrated periods at a time! The real problem is that we do not bring up our children to read and we disdain any subject that is not examinable. I believe that writers emerge from dynamic civil societies where ideas are being exchanged and explored—not from a vacuum!

Eric Forbes has an interview with Shamini Flint up on his blog.

The Malaysian launch of Inspector Singh Investigates will take place 4:30 - 6:30pm on Sunday, July 19 at Alexis (upstairs in the Sino bar), 29a Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, KL. Please RSVP via Facebook or contact Shamini directly at shamini@shaminiflint.com.

Postscript :

Here's another invite for you, just come in. (Click up to size.) :

Dark Prognostications?

Karim Raslan very kindly invited me to the launch of his latest compilation of essays at Valentine Willy Fine Arts last night. This, the third book in the Ceritalah series is subtitled A Dream Deferred, and is a compilation of columsn from The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Sinar Harian. This from the publishers blurb :

(It) charts Dr Mahathir Mohammad's departure from office and the rise of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. it goes on to chronicle the latter's astounding victory in the 2004 polls followed by the gradual decline in his administration's fortunes, concluding with the historic March 8, 2008 general election and its epochal implications. Traversing the country, Karim chronicles the hopes, dreams and fears of Malaysians from diverse backgrounds, weaving their views into his frank, unsparing essays. The nation possesses enormous potential but the current challenges are just as great. Karim talks about the dream of better, fairer and more open politics - a dream as yet, deferred.

At the press conference Karim described the book as more gloomy, much darker than the previous volumes. Malaysia wants change, needs change, but is still waiting for that change to happen. And it isn't easy for the politicians to deliver it. Malaysians expect to be able to deliver their views more, Karim said, but the government are not used to people speaking out, and he believes that we are entering a time of more control. Malay and Chinese versions of the book wil be launched soon, and he will be compiling another book - this time about Indonesia. He is now also writing for The Jakarta Globe. The guests at the launch included politicians from all sides including Nik Aziz, Zaid Ibrahim, Nik Nazmi, Khairi Jamalludin, and Nurul Izzah whom I was chatting to for a while before I realised who it was. (Me socially inept.) It was very nice to meet friends, including from publishers Marshall Cavendish. The nibbles by Alexis were very good too.

Tash's London Launch

I remember a line in Kam Raslan's Memoirs of an Old Boy along the lines of "When London was part of the Malaysian Empire". Well Thurs 7th of May sure felt like that for me. I went along to Tash Aw's London launch for Map of The Invisible World at Asia House. There was a real crush of people to hear him talk to the debonair Karim Raslan who had flown in from KL specially for the event. Kak Teh has more of the story, some pics, and all about our gastronomic adventures and vigourous testing of the six degrees of separation law afterwards, and it was great too to meet up with another Malaysian book-loving friend and blogger Fiona Wan who also writes about our evening here. Tash will be in KL on 7th June and there are a whole lot of activities scheduled for him which I will tell you about later.

Coming Up!

Here's a quick guide to some of the good things on in KL in the near future, and which I won't get to see as I will be away. First of all, do remember the poetry slam organised for tomorrow, and featuring an impressive line-up which includes Chris Mooney-Singh, Bani Haykkal (B-Quartet), Priya K, Hazlan Zakaria, Dizzy Firefly, the slammers of the night (Illya, Afi, Ayue, Cipta, Fynn, Arzumy, Abdul M.I. Abdullah, Zain Azrai).... and maybe YOU because even if you don't want to be part of the slam, you can take a turn at the mic to read any new work you have. Then there is the KL Alternative Bookfair at Central Market Annexe, held in conjunction with Art for Grabs on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10 May, 12pm to 8pm. There is a programme up on Facebook, with several talks and quite a number of book launches listed. Do check it out - last year the event was great fun and everyone who went managed to snag free books, and I expect this year will be even better. I like the sound of Sisters In Islam's event on the Sunday afternoon celebrating the freedom to read by performing poetry and excerpts from books, plays, scripts, etc that have been banned in many countries throughout history. Chuah Guat Eng's novel Echoes of Silence was the first full-length novel in English by a Malaysian woman, when it first appeared in 1994. Now the book has been republished and in a session called Anatomizing the Colonised Mind, on Saturday, 23 May at Silverfish Books, Guat will read from, and discuss her novel.

Talking the Right Talk

Talks to Fahmi Fadzil on PopTV this week is former Law Minister and author Zaid Ibrahim, whose second book Saya Pun Melayu (I Am Also Malay) is available in bookshops nationwide. (Or should be! MagP reports that the first run of 10,000 copies of the new book sold out within a few days of publication!)


I was supposed to go to the launch the other day but wimped out rather when I heard Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz were going to be there too. (So sorry, Ezra!) I enjoy book launches, but am somewhat allergic to politics. Nevertheless, I like what Datuk Zaid is saying very much, found his previous book to be full of the kind of talk that deserves to be walked, and I hope that he will soon be in a position to bring some effective change to the country.

You can read an extract from the forward of the book here, and I hope that there will soon be an English translation. Amir Muhammad reviews the book here.

The launch is reported by Malaysiakini :

Gravy for a Kept Woman?

I lifted this from Facebook :

Silverfishbooks, Sang Freud Press dan Sindiket Sol-jah, dengan berbesar hati menjemput anda sekalian pencinta fiksi berbahasa Melayu untuk bersama memeriahkan sidang pembacaan naskhah DUA LAUK dan PEREMPUAN SIMPANAN.

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2009
Time: 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: Silverfish Books, Jln Telawi, Bangsar Baru

Readers include:

D'ianadi
Wani Ardy
Taf 'Tifani' Teh
Ila Syazwani
Dila Raden
Wahida Rahim
Alina Abdullah

Further enquiries : dvinecomedy@hotmail.com

Congrats to Sufian Abas and friends for getting this new collection off the ground. The title is a wee bit hard to translate directly into English. (But this bluff-full Mat Salleh will have a go anyway and mangle a beautiful language.) Lauk means the dishes, curry and so on, eaten with rice as part of a Malay meal. A perumpuan simpanan is a kept-woman = mistress. And in this case it seems she's only been left two dishes to eat with her rice. (But why? I am intrigued to find out the answer to this! And if they are delicious lauk, such as I feel perfectly capable of cooking myself, should she still feel deprived?)

No doubt Sufian will be along to tell me I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick entirely. Never mind.

We also have Readings@Seksan that Saturday afternoon, but I will try to finish early so that anyone who wants to walk up the road to Silverfish will be able to get a second dose of things literary that afternoon!

Fatimah Goes to Penang

Something for the literati in Penang.

From Daphne :

Fatimah's Kampung will be launched on March 4 at 9am at the Balai Persiban Agung, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. The book will be launched by the universiti's vice chancellor, YB. Prof. Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak. Arndt Graf, associate professor of USM's school of humanities, and Daphne Lee, Star Publication's children's literature columnist, will review the book, and Iain Buchanan, the author and illustrator and writer of Fatimah's Kampung, will discuss his work at the launch. The event will conclude with a book signing by the author/illustrator.

Saturday Events

Yesterday afternoon presented tough choices - two events I wanted to go to on at the same time.

I plumped for Shih-Li's launch of Ripples at Silverfish. Shih-Li read the title story which is one of my favourites in the book, and fielded questions from her audience - most of them wanting to know about how she writes ("In bits and pieces, here and there.") and where her ideas come from.

(I've managed to nab her for Readings at Seksan's on Saturday, which I am very happy about.)

Gwen filled me in on the event I missed, which I thank her for :

I was lucky to be one of those who were at Kinokuniya KLCC yesterday to hear Oliver Jeffers talk about his books.

He had a lot of fascinating material to show us how he worked.

He showed how he made his collage for backgrounds and how he used the concept of light source in the portrayal of characters and scenes.

The corner where he was giving his presentation was overflowing and inadequate to allow all the people who came to see and hear what he had to show and say.

I bought a copy of How To Catch a Star for my grandchildren and there was an impressive line of people waiting to get their purchases signed. The signature is a personal one with a tiny sketch as well.

We need more visitors like Oliver Jeffers here in KL. There is a growing group of people interested in producing good books for children.

Shih-Li's Launch

Why not go cheer on Shih-Li Kow at the launch of her collection of short stories, Ripples, at Silverfish this Saturday, 21st Feb at 5.30 p.m.? Full details on the website. And yes (much as I hate to admit Raman is ever right about things!) the book is very good indeed.

Romancing the City

Thought you might like to see some photos from the Urban Odysses launch today.

Actor Mano Maniam* gave a very powerful speech about the importance of storytelling and ofcapturing this comparatively young city which is a cross-roads for almost all cultures and religions on the page. He was incredibly encouraging of the writers ...

Here's the mock-up copy of the book he signed ... . Isn't the art work (by Chor Shy Miin) great?

And those writers who could make it. I can't put names to all the faces, I'm afraid, so please help me fill in the blanks someone!

Paul Gnanaselvam is at the far left, Rachel Chan is the lady in red, Daphne Lee is the one with her head on the picture (but who is behind her?), Yusof Martin is the mat salleh guy with the beard, Tan May Lee is at the far right.

I would have loved a speech from Eric and Janet, the two editors, but those guys are incredibly self-effacing! For sure, the collection wouldn't have happened without their determination to get it off the ground, and their hard work in putting it together.

I was a bit sad because afterwards most of the writers seemed to disappear quickly before I had time to chat with them or buy the book to get it signed by them ... Maybe it was my fault for gossiping too long with Daphne, Twan Eng and Lansell in the Book Cafe! (There were so many friends there I hadn't sen for a while ...)

Anyway, if any of the writers read this, I would love to extend an invitation to participate in a future Readings@Seksan. Give'em a nudge would you??

(*Here's a piece by Zahara Othman about Mano's recent performance in London.)

Postscript :

I should definitely link here this post on Eric's blog featuring some of the writers whose stories were chosen.

Diaspora in Jaipur, Launch in Delhi

Congrats to Tash Aw whose second novel Map Of The Invisible World is being launched today at the Habitat Centre in Delhi by HarperCollins India, along with Lijia Zhang's Socialism Is Great! A Worker's Memoir Of The New China.

Jabberwock caught the session with Tash, Hari Kunzru, Tahmima Anam and Nadeem Aslan at the Jaipur Literary festival a few days back where the authors on the topic "Diaspora". They talked about heir personal cultural journeys and also about whether or not they felt a responsibility to their country when they wrote ...

Visiting Fatimah's Kampung

Something for Daphne Lee to cheer about!

Author and illustrator Iain Buchanan will be at Badan Warisan Malaysia this Saturday (17th) at 11.00 a.m. to talk about the creation of his new children's book Fatimah's Kampung.

Learn about his labour of love and grab this opportunity to see some of the large scale original art works that went into the making of this book.

This Malaysian Edition is published by the Consumers' Association of Penang and is available for purchase at Badan Warisan's Gift Shop. The book retails at RM65 per copy (paperback version).

Buchanan says about the book :

I needed to give my nieces and nephews, and their children, a picture of how wonderful the world can be - and a warning of how barren we can let it become; I needed to do this in a way which young and old could share, which would appeal to reason - and which would touch the heart as well.

So I set out to rescue, from those twenty years of lectures, a picture book for children about the life and death of a landscape. I wanted to tell the story of a forest, a village, and a city, and the succession from one to the other. I wanted to capture the drama of the change, what it meant to the landscape and the people who lived in it; and I wanted to do this in a way that could celebrate the detail of life, its different scales, textures, colours - from the broad panorama of a forest or a city skyline, to the minutiae of things, like the fretwork on a balcony or the ants on a leaf. A book like this, I reckoned, would do all I needed to do: it would celebrate the joys that Malaysia had given me.

Badan Warisan Malaysia is at No 2 Jalan Stonor, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.

To register, please call Yuana at the Secretariat, tel: 03 - 2144 9273 or e-mail: heritage@badanwarisan.org.my

Incidentally, Iain Buchanan will be appearing at this month's readings@seksan on 31st January. (More details later.)

Did Waterstones Wimp Out ? You Betcha

Has Waterstones lost its spine? A contributor called Brett on the political blog Harry's Place certainly thinks so.

The British bookstore chain pulled the plug on a booksigning by South Wales poet and playwright Patrick Jones at the 11th hour because of threats of protest from Christian extremists. He was due to launch a new poetry collection Darkness is Where the Stars Are.

Stephen Green (right) and campaigning organisation Christian Voice vowed to disrupt the event if it went ahead, saying that the book was "blasphemous".

In the end the poet had to sign copies in the street.

So what was so controversial about the poems? Jan Fortune -Wood, commissioning editor at Cinnamon Press (which published the book) :

A few of the poems deal with Patrick’s strong views on religion, particularly the way in which it is often associated with military conflict, the subjugation of women or movements that exclude the ‘outsider’. These are issues that art should rightly be pushing to the forefront of debate in a liberal society and there are people of faith who are concerned with such issues as well as humanists and secularists.

William Crawley on the BBC website says :

Mr Jones is plainly a poet who addresses political and religious themes in his work. In this collection, some poems explore the portrayal of women and some deal with the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. He uses language that is, at times, raw. He would not be the first poet to address these themes or to use raw language.

But as Fortune-Wood goes on to say :

Debate is not served by caving in to extremists, who do not even represent the majority of Christians, let alone the values of civil, liberal society, but proceed by threat and intimidation.

Surely a bookstore has a duty to support its authors - from whom it makes its money, after all, and it's necessary to stand up against all who would silence a writer's voice. (Or the space for other voices shrinks away too.)

It's the job of the British police to offer protection against intimidation and thuggery, should the bounds of legitimate protest be overstepped.

You can hear both Jones and Green talking on the BBC Wales website.

Here is the publisher's statement :



If you feel strongly about the issue, do drop an e-mail to Gerry Johnson, Waterstone's Managing Director at gerry.johnson@waterstones.com . (Be polite, please!)

You can also support Patrick Jones by buying a copy of his book from Cinnamon Press or from Amazon. (Mine is on the way!)

Postscript :

Carrie Dunn on the Guardian blog calls Waterstones "cowardly".

(Thanks, Jilly Kidd, a Second Life friend, for bringing this issue to my attention yesterday.)

The Floating Turd Launches a Novel

I've received an invitation to the launch of Devil's Place by Brian Gomez, and pass it on to you guys. (How can you not want to read a novel about KL which features a character called Fellatio Lim Boon Fatt?) :

Date and time : Friday, November 28, 2008 at 8:00pm
Location: Bojangles, Jln. Sri Hartamas 22/70A, Sri Hartamas, KL

You can find out more and RSVP via the event's Facebook page and also read a synopsis of the novel there.

Brian also blogs as The Floating Turd. Let's hope he's soon flushed with success!