At twelve years old, Little Frog has a richly fantastic and sustaining innerlife. It is 1963, his parents have disappeared, and he lives with his maiden aunts, known affectionately as the Three Fates, on the family estate in Bangkok. But, fed by a stream ofbooks and accompanied by his pet chameleon, Little Frogrefuses to accept thathe is Thai, eats English food, speaks only English, and answers to the name of Justin.Into Justin’s eclectically fashioned, whirlingfantasy world steps Virgil, a black American boy, and together they embark on a glorious spree of magic and growing up – in which sex, adult confusions, comedy, farce, politics and the voices of East and West are fused into a voyage of astonishing discovery.“Fragrant and very funny … like childhood, one finds that Jasmine Nights is hard to leave behind” – The Guardian“Charming, elegant and funny … a novel like no other and a joy to read” – Cosmopolitan“A vibrant coming of age novel” – Sunday Times“A funny and memorable book, light-heartedly taking on big themes” – Daily Telegraph From Publishers Weekly In a daring synthesis of East and West, the Thai-born Somtow, whose previous books include several horror novels (including the popular Vampire Junction and its sequel, Valentine) spins a fiercely inventive, funny and moving story of a precocious Thai growing up in 1963 on an isolated estate with three eccentric, strict aunts. The 12-year-old narrator, a cunning if naive recluse named Justin, learns the art of adaptation, a skill he will sorely need, from his pet chameleon, Homer. His parents, absent for many years, may be CIA agents in Vietnam; his senile great-grandmother enacts scenes from Hitchcock's Psycho; and each of his aunts is secretly bedding the rakish family doctor. Meanwhile, Justin's treehouse playmate, Virgil, a black American from Georgia, oscillates between vernacular "Black English" and WASP-like diction, puncturing the racial stereotypes and prejudices of his and Justin's two comrades-one Afrikaner, one white American-and of Justin's aunts. The plot includes blackmail, seduction, shamanism; a raunchy metaphysical satire on sex and death; a send-up of the West's exotic image of the East; and a subversive parody of two genres, the coming-of-age novel and the mythic hero's quest. Even if the satire wears thin as incongruities pile up, Somtow's manic comic energy and gift for human drama power a novel of abundant riches. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Thai by birth, educated in England, and delivered to Thailand by disappearing parents who are probably spies, 12-year-old Justin retreats behind the high stucco walls of the sprawling family estate. A precocious boy, he writes a long poem speculating where he thinks his parents may be, studies the classics, and cultivates a passion for his nanny, Samlee. Enter his heretofore unknown great-grandmother, who encourages Justin to break the boundaries of his sulking solitude. Justin obliges with a series of misadventures involving his new friend Virgil, two nubile teenage girlfriends, the gardener's son, and a cast of eccentric relatives. Justin's flights of fancy, his naive philosophical musings, and his sexual curiosity create a comic, satirical framework for the episodic plot. Complete with a Thai glossary, this exotic novel by the author of Valentine (Tor Bks., 1992) quickly becomes addictive. It is a juicy mango of a book sure to become a classic among coming-of-age novels. Highly recommended. Keddy Ann Outlaw, Harris Cty. P.L., Houston Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc . Once referred to by the International Herald Tribune as "the most well-known expatriate Thai in the world," Somtow Sucharitkul is no longer an expatriate, since he has returned to Thailand after five decades of wandering the world. He is best known as an award-winning novelist and a composer of operas. Born in Bangkok, Somtow grew up in Europe and was educated at Eton and Cambridge. His first career was in music. His earliest novels were in the science fiction field but he soon began to cross into other genres. In his 1984 novel Vampire Junction, he injected a new literary inventiveness into the horror genre, in the words of Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, "skillfully combining the styles of Stephen King, William Burroughs, and the author of the Revelation to John." Vampire Junction was voted one of the forty all-time greatest horror books by the Horror Writers' Association, joining established classics like Frankenstein and Dracula. In the 1990s Somtow became increasingly identified as a uniquely Asian writer with novels such as the semi-autobiographical Jasmine Nights. He won the World Fantasy Award, the highest accolade given in the world of fantastic literature, for his novella The Bird Catcher. After becoming a Buddhist monk for a period in 2001, Somtow decided to refocus his attention on the country of his birth, founding Bangkok's first international