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Why do prominent modern Indonesian sultans continue love affairs with the Mermaid Queen? Why is the island of Flores Ground Zero for Hobbit sightings? How does a Papuan hunter juggle the four religions which want a piece of his soul? Why did a now-neglected spice cause historic mayhem among greedy Europeans? Why does it make good business sense to make friends with the dragon princess? Why is discovering a new species almost as good as sex? What is the allure of Waltzing Banana Island? Can an elderly village woman armed with just a broom and gumption kill giant mosquitoes 'til they're dead?
This is Indonesia as you've probably never imagined, full of curious people, startling happenings, and unexpected moments of humanity and introspection, giddiness and solemnity, avarice and ambition.
About the author
Paul Spencer Sochaczewski is a Geneva-based writer and writing coach. While with WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature International), Paul created global campaigns to protect rainforests and biological diversity, and then developed the WWF Faith and Environment program.
Paul has lived and worked in more than eighty countries, including two decades in Southeast Asia. He has written more than six hundred by-lined articles for The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Travel and Leisure, CNN Traveller, Reader's Digest, and Geographical. In addition, he has written about the nature of Malaysia in Malaysia: Heart of Southeast Asia, served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Indonesian Heritage Encyclopedia, and was project initiator for Tanah Air: Celebrating Indonesia's Biodiversity.
And because this is a book of fantasy, Paul is a daring giant-wave surfer (four-time winner of the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau on Oahu's North Shore), has summited K2 without supplemental oxygen, proven that orang pendek, which he dubbed "snowmen of the jungle," live in the rainforests of Sumatra (he spent three weeks with a troupe of the elusive hominoids, whose existence had never been proven, recording their vocalizations and filming their daily activities), studied teleportation techniques with a Bhutanese Tantra master, and has won three Pulitzer Prizes for his incisive writing and commentary. He has never spoken publicly about his arm-wrestling victory over Arnold Schwarzenegger. George Clooney or Harrison Ford will star in a biopic of Paul's life, now in pre-production.
www.sochaczewski.com
