Maybe closer to 4 stars.An English couple accidentally kills a young Muslim fossil seller on their way to a lavish party in a remote area of Morocco. The lavish homestead they are visiting is both fascinating and off putting in its excess and debauchery. I most enjoyed the tensions between the "G...
This was one of my favorites. A Brit who travels to Bangkok, Thailand to avail himself of some affordable dental care finds himself drawn to the city time and time again. His adventures (or misadventures)are entertaining and offer a glimpse into not only this exotic international city but into th...
Somewhere between offensive and obnoxious, this book tracks Osborne drinking too much in places where alcohol is frowned upon, mostly with the backdrop of his not-particularly-informed inner monologue about Muslims and how they'd be better off if they were gin-soaked idiots like him. The occasion...
“Drink,” she said. “You’re dehydrated.” I slept again. The wind soughed as it swept through a thousand trees. I watched her beetle-shell hair drift over the edge of the cup and then over her forearms, where the sleeves of a Shetland sweater had been pushed back. The watch had been removed, stowed...
Islam, ironically, gave us distillation just as the Greeks gave us fermentation. Distillation and fermentation: they could not be more different. One rational and scientific in origin, the other mystical and organic.Dionysus is the god of vegetation, of the theater, of bulls, of women, and of win...
He had asked the receptionist to go into the closed café and get him some ice for his glass and he sat there with the glass, the ice, his own bottle of Sang Som and an ashtray, placid and watchful and totally sober. The rum burned his tongue and he enjoyed its ferocity, the way it seared the inne...