Pile up your TBR with some excellent books by Asian American and Pacific Islander horror authors, including Monka Kim, Alma Katsu, and more. It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which means now is a great opportunity to discover your new favorite AAPI horror authors. … [Read more...]
Beyond The Act of Killing: Indonesia and the Price of National Unity
May 9, 2026 by
A new documentary is inventive, but will not help Indonesia get to the truth of the 1965 killings. The Act of Killing, a new documentary on Indonesia’s anti-Communist mass killings, is making the rounds globally and earning praise for its innovative cinematography. Innovative it may be, but the … [Read more...]
Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, And Disorder In Indonesia
May 9, 2026 by
If there is one Indonesian word you know, it’s probably amok. As in children dressing in Halloween costumes and running amuck, amuck, amuck (that’s a quote from the 1993 movie Hocus Pocus). The original connotation isn’t cute, though. It’s not playful. It’s an episode of frenzied violence, a sudden … [Read more...]
‘The Dog Meows, The Cat Barks’ by Eka Kurniawan: Time to grow up, adults
May 8, 2026 by
The short novel offers a strikingly intimate perspective on childhood. In ‘Childhood’, a semi-autobiographical account of his early life, Leo Tolstoy wrote: “What better time is there in our lives than when the two best of virtues — innocent gaiety and a boundless yearning for affection —are our … [Read more...]
Grave Years and the Undead Woman: On the Chilling Erasure of Mothers’ Needs
May 6, 2026 by
I have never read anything written by Pearl S. Buck. But a few years ago, I came across something she once said that I have been unable to forget. In a 1958 interview on the American TV show The Mike Wallace Interview, the eponymous Wallace (pausing every now and then to plug Parliament-brand … [Read more...]
