I have been in touch with Bangkok-based author Christopher G. Moore for some time now. This happened both through his books (His Lordship’s Arsenal and Cold Hit) and via the Internet; not to mention the fact that every English-language bookstore in Thailand shelves a large collection of his books.
When word of a new anthology of crime fiction short stories about Bangkok came out, I was immediately curious about it. Titled Bangkok Noir (Heaven Lake Press, 2011), the book is made up of twelve short stories, written by as many Thai and Western writers who have put together a collection of short stories about the dark side of Bangkok.
The official book launch took place this week, on March 17th at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, located at the Penthouse of the Maneeya Center Building downtown Bangkok. With a packed house, the event started a little after 8pm and of the twelve contributing authors, half were present to share their love for literature with the audience.
Sitting at the long panel table, from left to right, we had Dean Barrett, Colin Cotterill (who was present in the shape of a life-size cardboard cartoon), John Burdett, Tew Bunnag, Gen. Vasit Dejkunjorn, Christopher G. Moore, and Collin Piprell. They all took turns and talked about their time as writers in Thailand and explained how they got involved in the Bangkok Noir project. By far, the most interesting writer to listen to was Gen. Vasit Dejkunjorn, a Thai journalist, novelist, politician and police officer, who fascinated the audience with his tales. (He is also Moore’s inspiration for Colonel Pratt from the Vincent Calvino PI novels.) With the exception of Tew Bunnag, I have heard and read about the other writers present and their interventions were of a more general nature, mostly regarding their career as writers and how they “ended up” writing about Thailand.
Christopher G. Moore opened the event with a brief talk of what “noir” means and was also the one to offer answers to most of the questions coming from the audience. When I asked him if there’s going to a Bangkok Noir 2, he replied that it highly depends on how well this first anthology will be received. Still, he said that there are plans for a Phnom Phen Noir and possibly a Saigon Noir.
The book launch ended with the writers signing books and chitchatting with the present booklovers. The other six authors who are in the anthology but were not present are: Stephen Leather, Pico Iyer, Timothy Hallinan, Eric Stone, Alex Kerr and, of course, Colin Cotterill. Bangkok Noir has an amazing cover photograph by Ralph Tooten, a noir photographer based in Bangkok.
It was a great evening with a great crowd of people present. Here, I had the chance to meet Gregory W. Frazier, an American motorcycle adventurer who has been five times around the world by motorcycle.
The book is priced at 450 baht and is already available at some English-language bookstores in Bangkok. It can also be ordered online, from the publisher’s website. Half of the authors’ earnings from this book will be donated to selected charity organizations which provide education for needy children in Thailand. Check out the book’s website too.
