Saint Jack - Softcover

Theroux, Paul

3.53

745 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0544339959 ISBN 13: 9780544339958

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2014

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Jack Flowers knew he needed to shake things up when he jumped into the Straits of Malacca and hitched a ride to Singapore. Deftly identifying the fastest route to fame along the seedy port, Jack starts hiring girls out to lonely tourists, sailors, bachelors -- anyone with some loose change and a wandering eye -- soon making enough money to open two pleasure palaces. But just as Jack is finally coming into his own, a shocking tumble toward the brink of death leaves him shaken, desperate to pull himself up to greatness. Depressed and vulnerable, he's quick to do business with Edwin Shuck, a powerful American working to take down an unsuspecting general. Marked with Paul Theroux's trademark biting humor and audacious prose, Saint Jack is a gripping work from an award-winning author.

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Review:

"Paul Theroux is without peer as the merciless obituarist of colonialism. He knows his way matchlessly about the milieu where no-one was ever at home, while having forgotten any other home. Dunroamin, a whore-house that is the pride of Jack Flowers, the 'Saint Jack' of his latest novel, is its perfect expression. Theroux novels are neither apologia nor accusation; wit is his rare medium, and that lays both bare." --Nadine Gordimer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

From the Back Cover:

"Theroux is without peer as the merciless obituarist of colonialism . . . [His] novels are neither apologia nor accusation; wit is his rare medium, and that lays both bare." Nadine Gordimer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Jack Flowers needed to shake things up when he jumped into the Strait of Malacca and hitched a ride to Singapore. Deftly identifying the fastest route to riches, Jack hires girls out to lonely tourists, sailors, and bachelors, and soon opens two pleasure palaces. But when a shocking tumble toward the brink of death leaves him shaken, Jack is once again desperate to pull himself up to greatness. He s quick to do business with Edwin Shuck, a powerful American working to take down an unsuspecting general. Told with Paul Theroux s trademark biting humor and audacious prose, Saint Jack is a gripping work from an award-winning author.
A witty, subtle, often moving self-portrait of a memorable rogue. "Observer "(UK)
Theroux s prose is rich, his perceptions so many-layered, he involves us in a world that extends well beyond the physical limits of his novel. "The Times" (UK)
Paul Theroux is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include The Lower River and The Mosquito Coast, and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and Dark Star Safari. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.

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