I JUST finished this wonderful book by Dean Barrett about a rear-echelon GI stationed in the 'Land of Smiles'.
One of the blips on the cover, I believe has it right, describing it as a Viet Nam War era, M*A*S*H. Example, the enlisted guys have nicknamed their lieutenant, 'Lieutenant Pearshape'.
Barrett also writes some fine prose, as he describes the river which runs through the heart of Bangkok, or maybe it IS the heart of Bangkok, in what he titles:
"Menam Chao Phraya, Lord of the River".
"The river rolled leisurely under a bright blue cloud-streaked sky, from its origin far above the old capital of Ayutthaya, to its inevitable merger with the Gulf of Thailand at Paknam. Its muddy brown water carries patches of green weeds, flotsam, ferries, naval craft, heavily laden rice barges, heavily laden tourist boats and fast moving vegetable boats skifully paddled by Thais every bit as colorful as their poscard counterparts."
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Regarding the photo of the vendor at a floating market near Bangkok:
I find living in this wonderful, almost magical, "kinda/sorta Postcard World", that I no longer know if this is: 1) a photo of REAL Thai people, or, 2) a photo of 'her postcard counterpart'.
Either way, I LOVE the smile!!
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