To Asia With Love - the series

Author Kim Fay (pictured) tells us on her website about some wonderful news... "As of August, I have the great pleasure of working as the managing editor of To Asia With Love, a literary guidebook series for Things Asian Press. Based on my beloved To Asia With Love: A Connoisseurs’ Guide to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, the series will include Japan, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, China, India, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The first eight books in the series will be published in the winter/spring of 2007/2008." I couldn't possibly identify the editor of the Cambodia edition..., though I can reveal that former Siem Reap bookshop owner Don Gilliland will edit the Burma/Myanmar book, Lonely Planet's Joe Cummings will piece together the Thailand version, with Kim herself in charge of the Vietnam edition.

Kim will also publish her own part travel essay, part cookbook, part history, sociology and philosophy book, Communion: Meditations on Eating in Vietnam, which explores the culture of Vietnam through its intriguing culinary traditions, in the Spring of 2007. She also talks about a novel, In Yellow Babylon, which is close to completion. "I have always wanted to write a novel whose poetry would make Michael Ondaatje proud. I am also fascinated by the true story of Andre and Clara Malraux, who brazenly attempted to steal a six-ton bas relief from a Khmer temple in the early 1920s. With both of these inspirations in mind, I set out to write a literary adventure novel. The result: a story about one woman's quest for a lost temple, and an exloration of obsession set against the backdrop of post-WWI Indochina." I for one am eagerly awaiting the outcome of her writings, and of course, the To Asia With Love series of guidebooks.