The Buddha Bar

By Joseph Ridgwell

For anyone who has been swept up in the singular kind of energy and romance of travel, Joseph Ridgwell’s The Buddha Bar will ring true.

In fact, for anyone familiar with Ridgwell’s mad and wanton approach to writing — that cackle of sex and drugs and booze and rock & roll — The Buddha Bar fits right in.

The book is a lusty romp through the alcohol and humidity and tropical beauty of Thailand. Our two leads — desperate to carve out a way to make it, and live, and be, and love amidst the constant deluge — throw in together and open a small tourist bar, our titular Buddha Bar. And much like the bar business — the idea of it and the truth of it are seldom the same.

Much like Kerouac’s On the Road, it’s wondrous to entertain the insanely tempting dream.