Araki, Horihiko. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. First serialised by Shueisha in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump: 1987. The series started with Phantom Blood starring Jonathan Joestar.
Blyth, RH. Haiku Volumes I-IV. Hokuseido Press: 1950. The definitive set of classic haikus covering the four seasons, the history of haikus and a few haikus about cormorants.
Burroughs, William S. The Naked Lunch. Olympia Press: 1959. I never had a problem with the cut-up approach to storytelling!
Cadet, JM. The Ramakien: The Stone Rubbings of the Thai Epic. Kodansha International: 1971. A beautiful edition illustrated with amazing bas-reliefs from Wat Po in Bangkok.
Chang, Jung. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. Simon & Schuster: 1991. This fascinating book covers much of the Chinese communist revolution and, as of the time of this writing, is banned in Mainland China.
Greene, Graham. The Quiet American. William Heinemann Ltd: 1955. A great introduction to English writers, whom until this book, I had been mistakenly steering clear of!
Hopkins, Jerry. Thailand Confidential. Periplus Editions: 2005. Hopkins, one of the original Rolling Stone magazine journalists, moved to Thailand in 1993 and wrote this book of fun facts about Thailand. Also wrote (along with Danny Sugerman) a great biography of Jim Morrison called No One Gets Out of Here Alive published by Grand Central Publishing: 1980.
Lawrence, DH. The Plumed Serpent. Martin Secker: 1926. Set in Mexico. Not the most famous story of his. It got mixed reviews, but if it was good enough for Octavio Paz, then it was good enough for me.
MacLaine, Shirley. Out on a Limb. Bantam Books: 1983. Yes, this was probably my first introduction to ‘New Age.’
Mayuzumi, Madoka. Summer on the B-side (B面の夏). Kadokawa Shoten/角川文庫: 1994. Mayuzumi remains one of my favourite haiku poets. Unfortunately, this collection is only available in Japanese. It does, however, contain the haikus that inspired rewrites of “One Night in Shibuya.”
Miller, Henry. Tropic of Cancer. Obelisk Press: 1934. Hugely influential to me, along with the other writers from Paris in the 1930s. Besides Paris, his writings about Brooklyn provided me with an early impression of the United States—for better or worse. No, not all his writing was about sex!
Milne, AA. Winnie-the-Pooh. Methuen & Co.: 1926. Prai Dao’s (and my) favourite children’s book. Unfortunately, I traded my original copy—which included the fabulous illustrations of EH Shepard—for something from my sister, and I can’t even remember what that was. I must ask her if I can have the book back!
Mishima, Yukio. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Shinchosha: 1956. Translated by Ivan Morris, Knopf: 1959. A powerful recounting of the burning of the Golden Temple in Kyoto.
Pramoj, Kukrit. Four Reigns. First serialised by Siam Rath: 1951-1953, Translated by Tulachandra. Silkworm Books: 1981. The dense epic story of Phloi and her family across the reigns of four kings starting in the 1800s and ending in the mid-1940s during the reign of Rama VIII.
Seagrave, Sterling. The Soong Dynasty. Harper & Row: 1985. A must-read about the turbulent history of twentieth century China and the hugely influential Soong sisters. About the sisters: one loved money, one loved power, and one loved her country.
WaiHong, Choo. The Kingdom of Women. I. B. Taurus & Co. Ltd: 2017. About the Mosuo women and men.
Wheeler, Tony et al. The Lonely Planet series. Lonely Planet Publications. What can I say? Compared to now, my 1985 edition of South-East Asia on a Shoestring was smaller but all the same it was indispensable.