Penguin Books Blog

John van de Ruit writes you a letter…

Dear Reader   FRANKENSTEIN’S BACK!   Man those luscious days in Cambodia and Thailand feel like some time ago now. In fact even the Cape Town Book Fair has receded into the throbbing haze of talks, interviews and book signings. But let me resume from the very beginning and stagger forward in an orderly fashion.   THE LAUNCH (JOZI PART 1)   Armed with [...]

Continue reading...

John van de Ruit- Journal Entry May 28th

THE END OF THE ROAD   Time is a trickster. One minute you stand with weeks stretched out before you, and the next the looming and predictable dead end casts a shadow across the face. Weirdly, Cambodia feels like it was the previous year and i can barely remember Kuala Lumpur at all, and may have to [...]

Continue reading...

John van de Ruit- Journal Entry May 13th

Sunday 10th May – 1 Month until launch. SWINE SYPHILIS AND ADVENTURES IN A MINI-WAN (Part One) SWINE SYPHILIS Notwithstanding three delightful near death experiences in the back of a Cambodian tuk-tuk, it has been a rather pleasant trip as far as transport is concerned. That is until we reached Southern Thailand this week. Now [...]

Continue reading...

John van de Ruit- Journal Entry May 1st

SPUD MILTON TOMB RAIDER It’s been a marvellous (wickedly splendid) eight days in the sleepy town of Siem Reap. The name itself means “Siam defeated” which refers directly to a great battle with the Thais that may not have occurred at all. The attractions of this place are the great temple ruins of Angkor built between [...]

Continue reading...

John van de Ruit- Journal Entry April 21st

21st APRIL 50 Days to launch   The bugger about growing older is that it’s an invisible act of decay. Like watching a rose bloom, one minute it’s a bulging bud and the next it’s as vast as a cauliflower, falling to pieces, and soiling its vase water. Yesterday, against all odds, I turned 34 years old, which [...]

Continue reading...

John van de Ruit – Journal Entry- April 7th

64 DAYS TO LAUNCH!!!   Dear Spud fans, friends, Romans and people at the wrong website.   Greetings from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s a week into the trip and I have thankfully settled down after the flurry of finishing the book and then roaring off to bustling Kuala Lumpur. I have finally, after a number of torturous nights watching [...]

Continue reading...