Vincent Calvino
Created by Christopher
G. Moore (1946--)
Dubbed the "The
Hemingway of Bangkok," expatriate Christiopher G. Moore is
one of Canada's most successful novelists. Yet, perhaps typically,
he's almost unknown in Canada. But in Thailand and Southeast Asia
he's become something of a sensation, especially among foreign
workers and travelers. His English language novels regularly hit
the bestseller lists there, able to easily sell 20,000 copies
in Bangkok alone, and he's eagerly and quickly translated into
German, Japanese, Chinese and Thai. And his detective novels,
featuring Bangkok-based private eye VINCENT CALVINO, are
the most popular of all, able to hold their own against the likes
of heavyweights like Michael Crichton and Stephen King. Calvino,
in fact, is one of the world's most popular and best-selling eyes.
"Vinee" is an ex-New Yorker, living in Bangkok. It's
his home, but he's always very aware of being an outsider, as
well. So he walks that fine line, doing what must be done, trying
to live by a seemingly endless set of personal rules he's cobbled
together (eg. "only marry an orphan"). He's aided and
sometimes hampered in his investigations by his friend, Thai Police
Lieutenant-Colonel Prachai "Pratt" Congwatana.
A big part of Moore's charm is his unerring eye for the intricacies
of not just the Thai culture but also the Thai psyche, and the
curious demimonde of the expat community, caught forever in the
tug-of-war between East and West. Calvino's world is one of foreign
correspondents, diplomats, business executives, English language
teachers, adventurers, drunks, con artists, whores and hustlers,
all unwilling, unable or uninterested in going home. From what
I've heard, he captures the sights and sounds and the lights of
Bangkok's nightlife particularly well.
Christopher G. Moore was born in 1946, trained in law at Oxford University, and was a professor of law at University of British Columbia. He lived for a while in New York City, but currently lives in Bangkok. His first novel, His Lordship's Arsenal, was
published in 1985, and proved to be an instant success, both commercially
and critically, and he has since written close to twenty more
books. The third in the Calvino series, Cut Out, was awarded
the 2004 Deutsche Krimi Preis (the German Critics Award for Crime
Fiction).
THE EVIDENCE
- "Thais have a saying about a frog living inside a coconut shell. The frog believes that the world inside the shell is the whole universe. In the private investigation business, Vincent Calvino had clients who were like the frog. What they saw from inside their shell blinded them, made them unable to solve a problem. So they hired Calvino. He knew the drill. Shells offered comfort and security. Leaving a shell could be a dangerous business. Calvino’s froglike clients paid him to venture into a larger existence and to find out and report on the wiring of relationships and places and events, how they were linked and fit together in networks."
(the opening paragraph of The Risk of Infidelity Index)
UNDER OATH
- "Moore is without doubt a real writer and one to watch."
(Publisher's Weekly)
.
- "Moore's work doesn't flinch from cultural detail or
complex social analysis. He takes chances, lots of them."
(International Herald Tribune)
.
- "A thinking man's Philip Marlowe, Calvino is a cynic
on the surface but a romantic at heart...Calvino...found himself
in Bangkok--the end of the world for a whole host of bizarre
foreigners unwilling, unable, or uninterested in going home."
(The Daily Yomiuri)
NOVELS
RELATED LINKS
Respectfully submitted by Kevin
Burton Smith.
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