More Reader Reviews of "The Cuttlefish"

What a ride. A peek inside Sukhan, a fictional stand-in for any number of Asian cities where an insatiable appetite for English collides with the mixed bag of native speakers who wash up on its shores. Tharp spins a believable yarn about one of these guys: Zach—adrift, boner-prone, boozy, but ultimately well-meaning. He decides the best way to land a book deal is to get himself intentionally thrown in prison, hoping for a light sentence and an experience both profound and grisly enough to impress a publisher. Things don’t go as planned. Often hilarious and occasionally touching, Tharp builds a vivid, believable world that’ll keep you hooked to the last page. — Toast ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tharp’s opening on English teacher culture is pretty masterful when it comes to capturing the characters, dialogue (he’s particularly gifted here), and comic absurdity of the life. For that alone, I can heartily recommend this––it’s a fun, breezy read and especially worth it if you’re into expat fiction. — David Frazier ⭐⭐⭐

Great book. At first I thought it would be just a humorous stab at expat life in “Sukhan”, but then it turned into a full on novel. The characters are full and believable. The plot is fast and not formulaic. The prose is easy and fun. I would compare it to Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”, but Hemingway didn’t have as strong a sense of humor. — Kindle Customer⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you’ve spent any time in Asia, and especially if you’ve ever been an English teacher in Asia, you will literally laugh out loud as you’re stabbed by shards of satire. — Eryk Michael Smith ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Readers of Chris Tharp’s new novel The Cuttlefish are likely to exclaim along with Shakespeare’s Miranda in The Tempest: “Oh brave new world – that has such people in it!” And they are wonderful – funny, serious, unpredictable and yet profoundly human. But it is the energy of Tharp’s style that is both irresistible and at times unsettling. Where he gets this energy is your guess as well as this reader’s. Only Moby Dick thudding into a blocking sled packs more punch per page… Read it, drink it – and tell your friends about it. — Robert Perchan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chris is a writer to watch. This is an excellent read! — Stuart Laidler ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The plot was secondary to the description of expat life, for me. Definitely captures the “what the fuck am I doing here” and “did that really actually truly happen” feeling that you can only get abroad. Tharp world builds pretty well—writing a fictional East Asian country is hard enough, I really enjoyed the history and politics injected into the mix that could very plausibly have actually happened. If Sukhan existed, the Japanese would definitely have tried to take them over. Yearning for something that gives me as much joy as a box of shanki does to Zach. — David Rubenstein ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have been a fan of Tharp’s travel writing since he published his first book back in 2011. It was a joy to read his first work of fiction. The book kept me fully engaged and I read it very quickly. There were several times I laughed out loud and the climactic ending was super satisfying! I highly encourage anyone to dive into this novel and check out his other books. — Gina ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As an expat, I’ve known people like these characters. The kind of people I never would have met if not for being an expat. Fun read. All of the pieces fit together in unexpected ways. The dialogs are especially strong. The author develops characters effectively. — Violin Patrick ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Please BUY THE BOOK if this piques your interest, and please: LEAVE A RATING OR REVIEW. The Cuttlefish is published by Plum Rain Press, a tiny indie outfit, and we need all the help we can getting the word out.