New book
I popped into a Jakarta bookstore last night to find a new book. The first interesting thing was that although there was a substantial collection of English books, the selection they chose to display up front was slightly different from what you'd find in the US. Most prominent were a bunch of "how to get ahead" books; a biography of Donald Trump, and a book debunking the Da Vinci code.
More importantly, there was a collection of Tom Wolfe (of "Bonfire of the Vanities" fame) books. One of my favorite authors, and they had books by him, really old and near-forgotten, that you just don't see in the US. I picked up "Radical Chic," written in 1970 and set in 1966, which opens with a posh party at Leonard Bernstein's Manhattan apartment in which Black Panthers have been invited and are mingling amongst the elite. Good stuff!
Later that evening a colleague and I had dinner on plastic stools at a streetside satay vendor (little kebabs drenched in spicy peanut sauce). Yumm.
More importantly, there was a collection of Tom Wolfe (of "Bonfire of the Vanities" fame) books. One of my favorite authors, and they had books by him, really old and near-forgotten, that you just don't see in the US. I picked up "Radical Chic," written in 1970 and set in 1966, which opens with a posh party at Leonard Bernstein's Manhattan apartment in which Black Panthers have been invited and are mingling amongst the elite. Good stuff!
Later that evening a colleague and I had dinner on plastic stools at a streetside satay vendor (little kebabs drenched in spicy peanut sauce). Yumm.
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