Saint Jack: A Darkly Comic Literary Novel of Crime, Politics, and Ambition in Singapore

Saint Jack: A Darkly Comic Literary Novel of Crime, Politics, and Ambition in Singapore by Theroux, Paul. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780544339958.

Jack Flowers knew he needed to shake things up when he jumped into the Straits of Malacca and hitched a ride to Singapore. Deftly identifying the fastest route to fame along the seedy port, Jack starts hiring girls out to lonely tourists, sailors, bachelors — anyone with some loose change and a wandering eye — soon making enough money to open two pleasure palaces. But just as Jack is finally coming into his own, a shocking tumble toward the brink of death leaves him shaken, desperate to pull himself up to greatness. Depressed and vulnerable, he’s quick to do business with Edwin Shuck, a powerful American working to take down an unsuspecting general. Marked with Paul Theroux’s trademark biting humor and audacious prose, Saint Jack is a gripping work from an award-winning author.