The Sponge

Bangkok had cheap liquor and cigarettes, and it was supposed to be easier to focus on his writing while living 12,000 kilometers away from home. Inspiration was what he hoped to get out of it all, but Bangkok gave him more than that. In his debut novel, a chronicle of a writer attempting to finish his first novel, he discovered it took more than an escape from home to get over his shortcomings as an artist. Through grime, bodily fluids, and misadventure, emerged an unrestrained memoir of his first step toward being the author he so desperately aspired to be.