The Butterfly Trap by Dennis Jon

The Butterfly Trap – A True Story by Dennis Jon

What happens when a man becomes so consumed chasing illusions that he loses touch with reality?
He gets caught, that’s what.

In hindsight, maybe fluttering off the tour guide’s red line wasn’t such a good idea. But Jon has neither hindsight nor foresight as his vacation unfolds in real time. Acting without consequence, he discovers that real life is funnier, crazier, and more interesting than fiction, as he encounters football hooligans, crooked tour guides, domino hustlers, root salesman, transvestite karaoke stars, restroom massage gangs, and angels – not with wings and halos, but g-strings and high heels.

While pursuing his shallow desires, he finds that he himself is in danger of becoming a fictional character, as he struggles to define the line between fantasy and reality. Thinking the truth is too complicated, he spins a web of deception that ultimately unravels, and leads him head first into – The Butterfly Trap.

“With his willingness to do things the typical travel author dare not – or at least not admit – and his insistence on truthfulness, often at his own expense, Jon elevates the travelogue into an art form.” Joseph P. Lin

“This is great writing. There are no moments of over-reaching for linguistic effects, no self-consciousness poetry, no false, romanticized truth because the sense of reality is so acutely aware.” Gar Flack

Paperback
Bangkok 2006
Bangkok Books
307 pages
ISBN 9789749391242