John A. McGlynn's favorite motto was "never let the truth get in the way of a good lie" - but as is revealed in his imaginative tales of travels to Mexico, Indonesia, and other exotic ports of call, it is often in the fantastic that truths are found. Populated with characters Mark Twain would have appreciated, McGlynn's stories are those of a modern-day Everyman, and are as recognizable to an American as they would be to an Indonesian about the common nature of man. His guide ...

A fast-paced, intensely emotional drama of Indonesian life high and low, set against the tumultuous backdrop of the reformasi era, after the fall of Suharto in 1999. The Painter of Lost Souls is the story of Sito, a brilliantly gifted artist who leaves his home in a poor village in Central Java while still in his teens, to make his name and his fortune in the royal city of Jogjakarta.  Vatikiotis tells a suspenseful tale that weaves together a fascinating inside view of the art boom in ...