Kingdom of Monkeys: Stories

by Adam Lewis Schroeder

Charting the steamy jungles and murky depths of the South Seas, these stories dip into the lives of a Malay boy in 19th century Singapore, a Dutch painter in wartime Bali, and an opium-smoking porter in northern Thailand. In a brilliant reworking of Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Coppola's Apocalypse Now, the closing novella tracks a martyr to his lair and reveals Kurtz alive and well and living among us. Cunningly exposing the tattered vestiges of colonial power in Asia, Schroeder reinvents the exotic, the exquisite, and the exiled.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Paperback

First published August 16, 2002

About the author

Adam Lewis Schroeder grew up in Vernon BC and completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia in 1999. He has since traveled widely and published stories in more than a dozen journals and anthologies. In 2001 his short fiction collection Kingdom of Monkeys was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award. His novel Empress of Asia was published by Raincoast in 2006 and Thomas Dunne in the US in 2008; a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award, it was also selected by the Globe & Mail as one of the best books of the year. Douglas & McIntyre published his most recent novel, In the Fabled East, in Spring 2010; it was selected by Amazon.ca as one of the best books of the year and was a finalist for the Commonwealth Regional Writers Prize. In addition Adam is a columnist for CBC Radio One and a Creative Writing instructor at UBC Okanagan. He lives in Penticton BC with his wife and kids.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six short stories and one novella make up this collection, each set in a different country, all but one, in South East Asia. Having traveled to four of these countries myself, I was intrigued with how Adam Lewis Schroeder used his personal travel experience to tell these stories in a way I would never have considered doing.

The opening story, Seven Years with Wallace, for example, is set in the 19th Century. It was very easy to suspended belief, and get fully into this emotionally touching tale. For me, as a reader, it was a sad ending, but as was the case in those times, Ali could not go to England with his master because “It is not done.”

As a reader, each story evoked a different emotion for me: Schroeder doesn’t simply highlight the exotic, the obvious attraction for any traveler; rather, he delves below the surface, showing an understanding of each culture, and the effect of that culture on the western traveler. Whether the protagonist truly “gets it” or not, there is the sense that Adam’s view is always clear. He makes excellent use of all the senses to bring each character and place alive.

The final story, Beautiful Feet, set in the present day, in the Philippines is the novella in the collection. This off-beat story takes place way off the beaten track (the best sort of travel), and the story flow effortlessly, giving the sense that Adam enjoyed the writing as much as I enjoyed the reading.

With this debut at only 28 years of age, it is no surprise that Adam Lewis Schroeder went on to write a very well-received novel – I can’t wait to turn the pages of The Empress of Asia.

[Trixiecat oh · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were very good short stories about living in other cultures and how it's always different from being at home. This is the writers first book, and it's definitely worth a read. His latest novel is Empress of Asia, and i am going to pick up a copy soon and check it out!

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes a memorable short story based on the life of Alfred Russel Wallace, but from an unexpected cross-cultural perspective.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short stories

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating series of stories!