In 1996 I took a long lease, with option, on a 2-storey building in Johor Baru, just across the Causeway from Singapore. I then spent most of my remaining money on fixing it up as the Restorant Eurasia, in anticipation of my Eurasian wife’s return from America. She had gone there on a ridiculously cheap ticket, courtesy of a nephew who worked for Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately she had no insurance cover. One day while walking down a street in Florida, she suffered a stroke, and subsequent complete coma, at the age of 38. I tried to run the restaurant as well as I could, but she was the one with restaurant experience, having managed a successful Thai restaurant in Singapore, with her magic touch. When the Gods frown, they do so in earnest. After a couple of months, the owner of the building, having seen what I’d done with it, and heard about my wife, decided he wanted it back. Being a proper Malaysian gentleman, and a Haji (done his trip to Mecca) to boot, he didn’t come and discuss it with me. Instead, he went to see his friends at Immigration, who then started making problems for me, over my lack of a work permit to run the restaurant. I argued – with the help of my friend at Immigration – that, as the Managing Director of the owning company, I was entitled to direct the management of the restaurant. Eventually my Immigration friend was suddenly posted out, and I was informed that my current visa would not be renewed. Fortunately, at the time of taking the lease on the building, I had also pre-paid a two-year lease on a charming brand new 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom terrace house in Taman Johor Jaya. I had to give up the restaurant, then rent out my house, and flee to Thailand on the last day of my visa. This is the story of my subsequent 9 months living in a cheap village house in a Malay kampong not too far from the Thai border.

A Guide to British television programmes shown at Christmas time, throughout the years.

The third of five volumes of new scholarship on American movie conventions. The 19 essays explore cinematic representations of such material items as food, weapons, clothing, tools, technology, and art and literature. Not illustrated. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $13.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

"An intergenerational story that interrogates and celebrates the American dream." —KIRKUS REVIEWS Written with an abundance of humor and grace, Cast Away is a dual narrative that shines a brilliant light on a quirky and wonderful family as they experience displacement. What would you do for your shot at the American Dream? Veronica Chavez and her great nephew Chuy immigrate from Mexico to the US, their journeys seventy years apart, each willing to do whatever it takes to build the life of their dreams. In 1922, Veronica’s romantic expectations are crushed by the dangers of living alone in a foreign country. Young and determined, she finds community in Utah’s desert railroad towns. Decades later, Chuy comes with his family to Salt Lake City, but his parents are soon sent back to Mexico. Out of place but together, Chuy and Veronica manage to connect across generations—hatching a plan to finally win it big on reality TV.

The story of Lieutenant Hugh Barr Miller, marooned on a South Pacific island, and his one-man war against Japanese forces

The Christmas season is the one time of year that we all put aside the demands of the everyday to celebrate with friends and family; share stories, warm memories, and traditions; and feast on home-cooked food. But what happens when life simply won't pause in the name of good cheer and festive revelry? This unusual holiday collection brings to life the tales of Christmases gone wrong: Christmastime castaways dreaming of holiday ham, a Sable Island mystery, murder and mayhem in yuletide Yukon, spirits of Christmas of a different kind, and many others. Merry misadventures!