Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s collection of short stories, Sightseeing (2004), won the Asian American Literary Award and was a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award. His work has appeared in Granta, One Story, The Guardian, Zoetrope, Best New American Voices, and Best American Non-Required Reading, among others. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award in Fiction, a DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Fellowship, and an Abraham Woursell Prize. He has also named one of the National Book Foundation’s inaugural “5 under 35” and one of the Best Young American Novelists by Granta. Born in Chicago, raised in Bangkok, and educated at Cornell University and the University of Michigan, he has served as a visiting writer in the MFA Program at the University of Wyoming and teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
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SightseeingStoriesFrom"Draft Day"
I realize then that Wichu knows. Of course he knows. He was here, at this temple, outside of the pavilion with his mother, when Khamron got drafted years ago. He was here when the wealthier boys got taken out of the line. He was here when those same boys came back an hour later, took their places at the end of the lottery line, and—when their turns came—drew black card after black card after black card. Wichu had told me all about it the night of his brother’s draft. Although I had only half listened to him at the time, the memory of his voice comes back to me now in all its anger.
“Draft Day” from SIGHTSEEING © 2005 by Rattawaut Lapcharoensap; reprinted with the permission of the publisher, Grove Atlantic, Inc.
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SightseeingStoriesFrom"Priscilla the Cambodian"
I turned around. That tiny Cambodian girl had Dong pinned facedown on the railroad ties. She sat on his back while he bucked and thrashed beneath her like a rodeo horse. She yelled at him, pummeled the back of his head repeatedly with her hands. I thought about leaving him there. But then I remembered that the girl had said she was going to kill us, and I suddenly didn’t know how serious Cambodians were when they said something like that, even if the Cambodian was just a little girl. She could’ve been Khmer Rouge…
“Priscilla the Cambodian” from SIGHTSEEING © 2005 by Rattawaut Lapcharoensap; reprinted with the permission of the publisher, Grove Atlantic, Inc.
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SightseeingStoriesFrom"Cockfighter"
We’d seen better times. Papa used to win. He used to be the best cockfighter in town. The men used to say Papa could cast magic spells that sent his cocks into a bloodthirsty rage. Magic or no, I loved the way Papa would saunter into the house after a day at the cockpit: beaming, large, awesome with pride. He’d plop down a wad of cash on the dinner table and Mama would squeal with delight. He’d let me count the money; I’d lick my fingers, judiciously flip through the bills, the way I’d seen gamblers in town fondling their cash after an evening tossing dice. We weren’t wealthy but, for a little while, we could buy things. A brand-new bicycle for me. An electric stove for Mama. Orchids for the garden. The Mazda for Papa. A bigger, better television.
But that all changed the day Little Jui showed up at the cockpit.
“Cockfighter” from SIGHTSEEING © 2005 by Rattawaut Lapcharoensap; reprinted with the permission of the publisher, Grove Atlantic, Inc.
Sightseeing:Stories
“[A] genuine talent . . . [He] has a gift for the detail that catches not only his Thai milieu but teenage life everywhere.” —The New York Times Book Review [on Sightseeing]
“It's a wonderful read—part Paul Theroux, part Haruki Murakami—and I confidently predict its author will be a big star.” —Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller [on Sightseeing]
Mr. Lapcharoensap writes “with a depth of emotion, of tenderness, really, and fluent descriptive detail,” said the Whiting selectors. “We like the access he provides to a world we know nothing about…and the way he manages to maintain an edgy tone without being offputting or overdoing it. He isn’t interested in condescending to the reader, as the material might invite him to. And we admire his fidelity to the short form in these stories—he does not stretch material that oughtn’t be stretched.”