Exceptional Encounters

Can an army of orangutan guerrillas save the Indonesian rainforest? Why is China creating a retirement haven in the South China Sea for rich despots? What happened when the British descendant of the oversexed first White Rajah of Borneo returned to claim his throne? Did Filipino “love sorcerers” help swing a US election? Can an American pilgrim find enlightenment through carnal escapades? How can Asia’s first “shaman university” repel an attack by rogue black-magic wizards? And why is Indonesia’s Mermaid Queen really angry and not going to take it anymore? Exceptional Encounters takes the seeds of true stories and applies the classic fiction writer’s aerobic exercise by asking: What if? These enhanced-reality fabulations draw the reader into tales of just-over-the-rainbow Asian kindness, greed, ambition, passion, and dreams.“Once again, Sochaczewski has pushed the frontier of travel literature in a thought-provoking new direction.” —Simon Lyster, chairman, World Land Trust   “Sochaczewski at his very best – sharp, witty, energetic, and unafraid to be irreverent. Reminds me of the satire of Catch-22 combined with the insight travel memoirs of Bill Bryson and Mark Twain.” —Benedict Allen, BBC presenter, author of Into the Crocodile’s Nest   “A collection of stories you can savor on many levels. The Asian storytelling of Somerset Maugham, the satire of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell, the reality check of Foreign Affairs, and the dark humor of Roald Dahl.” —Valmiki, author of the Ramayana