The Dog Farm [Kindle Edition]

David S Wills (Author)

Book Description

For thousands of young Westerners, South Korea is an escape from reality. It is a place where money is easy and booze is cheap. By day they toil in crooked cram-schools, teaching the peninsula’s violent, video game-obsessed youth. At night they cut loose and embrace Korea’s famous drinking culture.
Among these disaffected young teachers is Alexander. Young, naïve and a little drunker than most, he is struggling to cope with life on the “wrong side of the world”. In The Dog Farm we follow Alex from girl to girl, beer to beer, across Korea, to Japan, and back again, in an unlikely love story.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David S Wills is the editor of Beatdom magazine and the author of The Dog Farm, a novel about ESL teachers in South Korea.

Product Details

• File Size: 401 KB
• Print Length: 306 pages
• Publisher: Beatdom Books (October 10, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005UNH64A
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #717,335 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone... October 23, 2011

By Josh Thomas

Format:Paperback

Wills' first novel, The Dog Farm, is a raucous first-person novel about a foreign teacher living and struggling through his issues in Daegu, South Korea. "Struggling" is the key word in this description, because the narrator's experiences in the city read like a guide on how not to live in Korea. Alexander, a recent graduate of literature from Scotland, begins his dive-bomb onto the ROK with the first words of his story, "I was drunk when I first heard about Korea." Making one of the worst life decisions imaginable, young Alex decides that teaching in Korea might be a good way to escape the pit of alcoholism and despair his life in Edinburgh has become. Korea is not a good place for a young, depressed man to sober up.

Keeping the author-narrator divide in mind is crucial to enjoying this book. Wills is not Alexander. If you can manage that, and don't mind some rough language (and the occassional editorial error; it's a small press!), you will enjoy this. It is also much better if you've lived/worked in Korea.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Tough to swallow at times October 27, 2011

By el_magico

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

What happens when you take a self-absorbed, alcoholic hipster from Scotland into Korea to teach ESL? Read on to find out.

In my view, the main character is fairly one-dimensional and has a lot of immature hate for his environment and himself. There aren't many sharp observations about life in Korea and a large part of the book consists of irrational rants and blatant exaggerations. However, the visual descriptions of the country were fairly vivid and the plot was interesting which gives this coming of age story redeemable qualities.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Korea that i know November 7, 2011

By Njhammers

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Living in Korea & knowing quite a few ESL teachers i was interested in reading this book & as a novel it is an entertaining read, at least i read it cover to cover in one sitting.As a novel i suppose one should take all content with a pinch of salt, but i assume or presume that this novel is based on the authors experiences of living & working in Korea & from this regard i must say he writes about a people & a country that i cannot recognize except perhaps for the pushing & shoving & love of Kimchi.This book is full of trite categorizations & Stereo typing that borders & often surpases offensive.Im not an ESL Teacher therefore i do not have first hand experience of working in Hagwons, but i know a number of teachers who have worked & Still work in Korea & their experiences are nothing like what is chronicled in this book.So if you want to read a novel, then go ahead but if you believe you are reading an accurate account of working in Korea Circa 2011, buyer beware!!

More About the Author

David S. Wills is the founder and managing editor of Beatdom, the world's most popular Beat literary journal. He is also the author of controversial novel, The Dog Farm, which is set in the seedy world of ESL teaching in South Korea, and the forthcoming title, Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult', which examines the role of Scientology in the life of an American literary giant.