Paperback Original [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Will Rhode (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2004

Joshua King has more reasons than most young writers to produce that Great First Novel-and they're sitting in his father's bank account. Before dying of a tragic Viagra overdose, Josh's father put a stipulation in his will: Josh cannot claim his fortune unless he writes a bestselling novel in the next five years. The last thing Josh wants is a purpose in life: he's far too busy traveling, taking drugs, and growing his hair. He's very uncomfortably ensconced in a dirty Delhi flophouse, but it's the perfect place to meet drifters and druggies, users and seekers-the kind of people who know how to find Baba.

Yes, the Baba...the man, the myth, the mystery...and, maybe, the inspiration for a major bestseller.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This uneven first novel about the misadventures of British 20-something slacker Joshua King has a delightfully offbeat premise: before he commits suicide with an overdose of Viagra, Josh's father, worried that Josh is wasting his life, stipulates in his will that in order to inherit some of his millions, Josh must write a bestselling novel with "a significant part" for the elder King-and he's got five years to do it. The trouble is, Josh is not a novelist. Ostensibly a freelance journalist for a Delhi paper, Josh is mostly loafing his way through India after earning a certificate in word processing. He has little interesting life experience to draw on, so he engineers a scheme that will furnish the raw materials for his novel. His plan is to find mysterious drug dealer Baba-supposedly the head of an international drug ring with ties to Bollywood-earn his trust, steal his money, write the tale of derring-do (incorporating his father, of course) and cash in on his inheritance. Far-fetched? Completely. Engaging? Fitfully. Rhode doesn't always hit the right note in describing Josh's unscrupulous antics; the character's na‹ve recklessness and immorality often seem merely silly and unpleasant rather than humorously over-the-top. There are also strained attempts to explore the connection between fiction, reality and the creative process. Rhode's prose is brisk and clean, however, and his dialogue snappy and believable. The sheer originality of the plot keeps the pages turning.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Josh King is a British expat who ostensibly works as a journalist for Hindu Week but actually just sits in a Delhi guest house smoking hash. Not a bad life--until Josh's dad commits suicide, leaving behind a letter promising Josh 5 million but only if he writes a best-selling novel. Low on money and vaguely tired of his nihilistic lifestyle, Josh sets out in search of adventure (which, he hopes, will double as novel fodder). He mixes it up with the Indian Mafia, falls for an enigmatic Dutch beauty, and teaches English to Mumbai street kids (and also sells them heroin), all the while searching for the big money, the big drug lords, and the big story. Readers may tire of Josh's lengthy inner monologues, but Rhode's exploration of all the ways that writing (and reading) means being "in love with an illusion" makes for a smart and funny read. With all the plot twists of your average paperback original plus all the witty angst of a twentysomething's memoirs, this is one illusion that's easy to love. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• ISBN-10: 1594480141
• ASIN: B000ENBQBA
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,734,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Original, August 1, 2004

By 

C. West "capechick628" (Mashpee, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paperback Original (Mass Market Paperback)

I can see this becoming a movie. It's got a little bit of everything. Josh King's father dies from a viagra overdose and leaves nothing behind for his son. Well, not until Josh writes a best-selling novel including his father as a main character. So the story begins with Josh finding himself in India, searching for that novel. Enter the beautiful girl in distress. The girl that Josh thinks he can help and does everything, including devise a plan to scam the Indian Mafia, to help her. Enter the best friend who is trying to become the next big thing in Bollywood. His mom makes all of his connections but he has made one of his own that will help Josh enter the dark world of Indian mobsters, drugs, and diamonds. Throw in a roadtrip across the country to the Pakistani border, deception, and near death experiences and you've got yourself paperback original.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars definitely a must, January 26, 2006

By 

M. Famiglietti (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paperback Original (Mass Market Paperback)

Will Rhode is a hip and exciting new writer that is not at all about putting on aires. I thoroughly enjoyed this little known novel and its many foreign adventures. I even have a friend who got the tattoo of one of the girls in the novel, on a unrelated but interesting side note.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Same Novel is Titled 'Paperback Raita'..., April 6, 2003

By 

yygsgsdrassil "yygsgsdrassil" (Crossroads America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paperback Original (Paperback)

...I call it 'Bollywood (Not so) Squares'

....the novel starts out with the full letter from Joshua King's deceased father--in the form of a challenge and a will. Get off your duff and do something constructive or you not get a penny of my estate. As in Josh's case, he has to write a best selling novel with his father in it and he can claim five million pounds as his inheritance. Did I mention that the old man died by either a viagra overdose or the car accident he had arranged?
Well, whatta way to go, in either case.

Josh, however, is your typical twentysomething who doesn't see much urgency to anything save travelling, getting high and trying to keep out of jail. When we find him he is in the fabled dregs of New/Old Delhi. One night after a police raid at the hash house disguised as a hotel, he runs into a beautiful Indian goddess--Yasmin--she tells Josh that her boyfriend was caught in that raid and thrown in prison for supposedly a drug violation and they require something upwards to a quarter million bucks to get him out. Josh doesn't have that kind of money around, neither does the Bollywood hanger on Quintin (Sanjay)...but he does have the dubious distinction of being a ersatz journalist who 'writes' for the Hindu News. Maybe he can make that money from an advance on a work in progress. Maybe not. Anyway, one night in another raid Josh and Yasmin get out by the skin of their teeth, and when they return to the Green (hotel hash) he finds his Passport and that important letter written by his father missing....does he decide to high tail it? Nope. He and his buds concocts a plan to rob the big drug lord Baba. That way they'll have plenty of money to get Yasmin's dude outta prison, Josh can get his passport back and can write about how he robbed Baba and have a lil mad money for futher travels. Does his plot work? Hmmmm...you'd have to get the book to see for yourself.

This novel has the distinction of being whats called 'backpack lit'. It's done in short entertaining chapters with punchy, hip dialog with an international intrigue backdrop, but not like those WW II or Cold War spy novels. It's waaay to cool for that. Highly recommended.