Adventures of the Karaoke King, Harold Taw
Adventures of the Karaoke King, Harold Taw
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Adventures of the Karaoke King

Author: Harold Taw

Narrator: James Chen

Unabridged: 15 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/27/2011


Synopsis

In Harold Taw’s entertaining, sometimes bawdy, and often moving novel, Adventures of the Karaoke King, readers are quickly pulled into the vortex of the extremes of human emotions: passion, fear, hope, despair, and the longing for redemption and clarity. Guy Watanabe is a thirty-something man who is marginally in touch with his Asian heritage and completely out of touch with his own needs and desires. Recovering from a divorce, Watanabe is unsure of himself and the course his future might take. When he wins a local karaoke contest, he discovers not only a newfound confidence, but the courage to take risks. With the victor’s medallion in hand, he seizes the moment…and his life changes dramatically, albeit not as he might have hoped. From a weekend romp with Megumi, a former hooker, comes a physical beating and the loss of his beloved medallion. Stung by this humiliation, and yet able to muster a courage long dormant, his quest begins. From the western states and on to Asia, with a return trip in a shipping container, we follow his wild ride. Will a Korean barmaid be his downfall…or his redemption? Will Billy, a closeted gay man, or Milt, a heavily-armed dwarf, help Guy on his journey? And what about the patricidal Chinese businessman who will stop at nothing to create a global karaoke empire? So many people seeking the light, desperate to attain their dreams. And at the heart of their internal wars is Guy Watanabe’s quest for truth, hope, and self-discovery.

About Harold Taw

At Harold Taw’s birth, a Burmese monk prophesied that if he fed monkeys on every birthday, his family would prosper. For forty years, the author has complied, and his achievements are many: Graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley; being a Fulbright Scholar in rural Thailand, where he studied the spread of AIDS; earning a degree from Yale Law School; serving as law clerk to federal trial and appellate judges; and working as a corporate attorney. An Artist Trust GAP Award allowed him to travel to Thailand and Burma to research his second novel, Saturday’s Child. Taw earned recognition from the 2010 British Feature Screenplay Competition, the 2010 Beverly Hills Film Festival, the 2010 Canada International Film Festival, and more, for his screenplay Dog Park. Adventures of the Karaoke King is the author’s debut novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on August 05, 2016

Wow, a lot of the reviews mentioned the amount of sex in this book, so the first thing I have to say is that I didn't think it was either an excessive amount or too graphic. Adults have sex, get over it. Yes, it may have been a suprise that the adventures took a turn towards prostitutes, strippers a......more

Goodreads review by Marschel on January 22, 2012

Adventures of the Karaoke King is quirky and brilliant. Taw is a new writer who has an incredible mastery of character. This story takes the reader on a journey with Guy Watanabe. It is a strange cultural odyssey indeed visiting vivid and sometimes underworld settings in Western U.S. and Asia. Taw's......more

Goodreads review by Noelle on January 04, 2012

Wow, what an awful book. The story was slow and choppy, and I cared so little about the characters that I had a hard time even remembering who was who. The only reason I've almost finished it is because I can't stand to leave a book unfinished once I start. This, however, may be an exception.......more

Goodreads review by Whittnee on August 29, 2013

an okay book that went unexpected places but you don't fall in love with or really care deeply about any of the characters along the way. It was okay, better than I thought it would be at the start, but not amazing.......more

Goodreads review by Rani on March 05, 2015

I picked this book up because I thought it is gonna be a funny story but it turned out to be a self help book. And it is interesting enough to make me wanna finish it. Its not so bad as you guys make it sound.......more


Quotes

“Reading Adventures of the Karaoke King causes Adrian Tomine and The Dude Lebowski to wander into the same area of one’s brain. Even as my head was exploding, I couldn’t put down Harold Taw’s hilarious and heartbreaking page-turner. I said to no one in particular: ‘I’m ready to follow Guy Watanabe anywhere.’ Guy Watanabe took that literally, and off we went.” —Anya Ulinich, author of PetropolisAdventures of the Karaoke King defines a new literary oeuvre shaped by America’s ethnically confused melting pot. It is a marvel of cunning humor, horrific atrocities, and heart-rending whimsy, and more than a pastiche of American naiveté, brutal racism, and cheeky sex, proving that first-time novelist Harold Taw is today’s Mark Twain and contemporary literature’s King of Sly.” —Skye Moody, author of The Good DiamondAdventures of the Karaoke King is the book I’ve been waiting to read—funny, original, and smart as hell. Harold Taw has created a new genre of “global noir”—an international odyssey tale replete with provocative characters, detention centers, and an eye-opening ocean ride. Traveling from Seattle to Shanghai, small town bars to Karaoke conglomerates, Taw brings a sparkling consciousness to the page and an exciting new voice to American fiction. A stellar debut.” —Susan Rich, author of The Alchemist’s Kitchen