The Gentleman In The Parlour

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PAUL THEROUX Somerset Maugham's success as a writer enabled him to indulge his adventurous love of travel, and he recorded the sights and sounds of his wide-ranging journeys with an urbane, wry style all his own. The Gentleman in the Parlour is an account of the author's trip through what was then Burma and Siam, ending in Haiphong, Vietnam. Whether by river to Mandalay, on horse through the mountains and forests of the Shan States to Bangkok, or onwards by sea, Maugham's vivid descriptions bring a lost world to life.

"On a Chinese Screen" by W. Somerset Maugham provides readers with a unique perspective on China through a collection of vignettes and observations. Maugham's writing offers a window into Chinese culture, society, and customs as seen through the eyes of the author. This book is an enlightening read for those interested in travel writing and cultural exploration, providing insights into the complexities and nuances of China in the early 20th century.

A domestic tale of country gentlefolk, between the Wars, and their families, friends and acquaintances, mostly in their beloved Scotland, but also in London. Jane’s Parlour is the cosy sanctum where Katharyn, wife, mother of five children and writer, retreats for peace and re-invigoration, serving as a symbol of a settled fulfilling country life.

After three years in Japan, Fred Buchanan is broke, unemployed and engaged in a telepathic turf war with a feral cat behind an Okinawa convenience store. Thus begins his metaphysical odyssey back to Tokyo. Along the way, symbols and sages materialize in the form of a two-fingered jazz musician, the faded tattoo on an ex-yakuza lover, an odd brood of internet cafe refugees, the kite flyer of Kabukicho and Yukie, an alluring hostess with strips of delicious thigh and strange power imbued in the etched eye on her fingernail. Charging through Shinjuku’s neon jungle, enveloped in a boozy, nicotine-stained haze, past and present collide as an empty orchestra croons a slow dance of people and place, memory and madness, loss and love. All the while, Fred struggles to be an agent of his destiny and not another ball bearing bouncing through the cosmic pachinko. Rainy Day Ramen and the Cosmic Pachinko is told as a uniquely clever mix of Murakami-esque magical realism and gonzo Japan travelogue.