In Story and Sketch: Love, Travel and Jungle Family in Tropical Asia.
Join award winning science teacher Tom McLaughlin as he moves from America to Malaysian Borneo as he tracks orangutans, dances naked in an earthquake, swims with jellyfish AND MORE DANGEROUSLY…falls in love.
Walk with him through a cacophony of emotions including great joy when he finds the love of his life and marries in a village ceremony, reunites with one daughter after a divorce, travels with another and flies the entire family on his honeymoon in Bali. Oh, yes, did I forget? His vasectomy and his wife’s diagnosis of barrenness produces a son, Dzul Patrick, now a few months old.
Each stand alone chapter is humorously sketched by Water Front Niki, a familiar face to all who visit Kuching. Niki’s sensitive portraits of the national bird, the Hornbill, decorates living rooms world wide.
**Proceeds from the book go for items that support the Matang Wildlife Center that rehabs orangutans and other amazing wildlife.**
My thoughts: Tom McLaughlin has done what most of us sit and dream about doing - leaving it all behind and setting off for romantic sounding foreign fields. In Borneo Tom he shares his experiences and adventures in a delightful collection of short stories which are funny, informative and very interesting.
Each story is contained in a double column on the left hand pages while the right hand pages are illustrated with humorous black and white sketches.
This is a book to leave sitting on the coffee table where it's colourful cover can attract the eye of potential readers. As Mr Cat was to prove it's a book that can be picked up and opened at any page and even non-readers will find themselves chuckling at Tom's exploits.
What I liked best was Tom's 'in boots and all' attitude; his willingness to immerse himself completely in his new environment and become involved with life in Malaysian Borneo. His love for the country, it's people, wildlife and plants really shines through.
Refreshingly different and good reading!
My thoughts: Tom McLaughlin has done what most of us sit and dream about doing - leaving it all behind and setting off for romantic sounding foreign fields. In Borneo Tom he shares his experiences and adventures in a delightful collection of short stories which are funny, informative and very interesting.
Each story is contained in a double column on the left hand pages while the right hand pages are illustrated with humorous black and white sketches.
This is a book to leave sitting on the coffee table where it's colourful cover can attract the eye of potential readers. As Mr Cat was to prove it's a book that can be picked up and opened at any page and even non-readers will find themselves chuckling at Tom's exploits.
What I liked best was Tom's 'in boots and all' attitude; his willingness to immerse himself completely in his new environment and become involved with life in Malaysian Borneo. His love for the country, it's people, wildlife and plants really shines through.
Refreshingly different and good reading!
About Borneo Tom
Science teacher Tom McLaughlin battled a rare neurological disease to a stand still, packed up his life and moved to Malaysian Borneo from a Washington D.C. suburb.
Landing in Kuching, he quickly learned the Malay language and involved himself in projects which includes orangutan rehabilitation and research about the famed naturalist, Alfred Wallace, whose thunder was stolen by Charles Darwin.
The advent of cheap air travel to many destinations in Southeast Asia transported him to many adventures. From dancing naked in an earthquake in Sumatra, to getting lost in a warren of World War II Japanese caves to walking the rim of a volcano with poisonous gas, he has jumped with foolhardiness into everything wild and wonderful, all related in his book Borneo Tom.
Tom teaches at the Lodge International School in Kuching, Malaysian Borneo while writing about his adventures as a US expat living in Borneo.
I received a complimentary copy of Borneo Tom to review from the author and Pump Up Your Book Promotions.
No comments:
Post a Comment