It takes someone of Dennis Jon's relentless curiosity to elevate the pedestrian travelogue into an art form.
- Joseph P. Lin
The Butterfly Trap covers real world topics, places and people some readers would rather not admit exist or read about.
- David Kent
Reviews & Praise for The Butterfly Trap
This isn't your typical travelogue. Dennis Jon's true life account of two weeks spent in Thailand take us through the culture and landscape of the country, including its famed nightlife. An unflinching account of a journey unfolding in real time, Jon takes us on a trip that dances on the line between fantasy and reality, and in the end forces him to finally face what he is running from: himself. The book is insightful, entertaining, and a bit provocative
The Traveller Magazine - Book of the Month
The Butterfly Trap is one of the very best books I've read about Thailand. The most enjoyable thing, perhaps, is that it sets its sights very high. The narrative draws the reader along and rewards him with some insight into a portion of the human condition, a glimpse of the truth. There are also a lot of funny bits, like the recurring chicken crossing the road joke or the "I'm out with a hot lesbian train conductor" line. Those are icing on the cake.
The Butterfly Trap shows exactly how it is with a certain kind of man: He seeks enlightenment, he seeks paradise, but he's never convinced he's attained either. His only consolation is the knowledge that the journey is as important as the destination. And that's the truth this book brings to the reader, and that's what makes it literature, rather than just another bar-girl book.
Steve Rosse
Author of Thai Vignettes
Author Dennis Jon is also a better writer than most. He writes in a simple prose style with a wry sense of humour, each chapter coming to a snappy ending. No extravagant language, no grotesque characters, no stale political correctness, no virulent diatribes against decadent Western materialism... Dennis Jon has told his story well.
James Eckhardt
The Nation
Said to be a true story, Dennis Jon takes us on a newbie's (his?) first trip to Bangkok, away from his native US where he awaits finalisation of his divorce Stateside.
His arrival at Don Meuang, the challenges of using the public transportation and the nuances of hotels in the nightlife areas are all scenarios Dennis experiences and we are reminded of so many of the things that we experienced on our first trip to Thailand, the sights, the smells and, of course, the girls.
It took me back to parts of my first trip.
The concept of a travelogue is simple. Travel somewhere--anywhere, keep a diary of your observations and interactions with people, and then write them in a first-person narrative. But it takes someone of Dennis Jon's relentless curiosity to elevate the pedestrian travelogue into an art form.
Jon achieves this with his willingness to go places and do things that the typical travel author dare not--or at least dare not admit. I his stubborn individuality and insistence on truthfulness, often at his own expense. His refusal to go the route of previous travelers, instead jumping into the abyss with reckless abandon.
He allows the supporting cast, and what a cast they are, to rule the show, by bringing out either the best or the worst in himself, sometimes simultaneously. I've found many images from this book vivid and memorable, as Jon relentlessly risks his dignity, and occasionally, his life.
His writing is tight, with an equal parts description, dialogue, and internal angst. His view of the world is unfiltered, and razor sharp, but it is his exposed personal faults that make The Butterfly Trap such a fascinating read. Enjoy this book, because there is nothing else like it, and lets hope, it's the first of many.
- Joseph P. Lin
The Butterfly Trap transcends "travel narrative." Pumped with emotional steroids, this story provides a crystal clear description of Bangkok's wild side as refracted through an intensely creative and comedic mind. It goes beyond the "travel narrative" genre by proving a compelling--and honest--story of the author's inner most feelings, his divorce, his loss, his battle with hedonistic desires, and ultimately...his redemption. Exceptionally readable, well crafted, and enjoyable.
Todd W. Elliott
Pittsburgh, PA
I read this through twice, and it left me with such an afterglow. This entire thing is a perfect realization of description. There are instances of superb, multileveled awareness of what can be seen in a moment where the complex present is intensely realized.
Read the scene where elephant is passing through the crowded street, how alive it all is with the humans pressing up against each other to evade "six hundred pounds of animal momentum" The energy and mass can almost be smelled and tasted:"the elephant's course grey hid lumbers by, its fine hairs grazing my arm"
See the precise interlockings, the chronometer-tick energies of a fully realized moment when the narrator learns to cross the street in full-pressing traffic. This is great writing. There are no moments of over-reaching for linguistic effects, no self-consciousness poetry. There are no moments of false, romanticized truth because the sense of reality is so acutely aware throughout.
- Gar Flack
A Travelogue with the Soul of a Novel
If the true purpose and potential power of a novel is to give the reader an intimate, truthful and unique experience; insight into life in general, or lives in particular, then The Butterfly Trap is truly a novel.
It is a compelling story that transports the reader to people and places that are too bizarre to be fictional, but made absolutely real in that Jon pulls no punches and spares no detail in the telling, often at his own expense. This book will not appeal to everyone, and that's a shame, because it is the people to whom it would least appeal that may very well get the most out of it.
The Butterfly Trap covers real world topics, places and people some readers would rather not admit exist or read about. This book provides a portrait of unusual people, and it treats them with alarming honesty, avoiding the tired clichés and exposing them as real people, not perfect, not horrible, but stuck somewhere in between. They are presented without judgment, their lives filled with hope, love, pain, desire and despair. As the main character learns to respect all that he encounters, he also comes to respect himself.
The Butterfly Trap is a true reflection, without editorial distortion, of one man's descent into the chaos of Bangkok's infamous nightlife, presented without undue glorification or scorn. It is neither a cure nor a defense, it is simply a reflection of one man's reality, and it goes above and beyond being a travelogue, it's a great novel.
- David Kent
This is an intriguing story full of interesting characters and a serious inner conflict for the main character as he tries to straighten out his personal life. There is a great deal of depth in the story as he searches for meaning and love. He has a lot of good insights into the various personalities he meets and into how he interprets life.
The situations and his observations are often humorous and the quotes from the Buddha are profound, and add to the depth of the drama.
The characters are strong with descriptions, personality traits, motivations, and appropriate backgrounds for the roles they play. There is a lot of good dialogue, often confrontational in nature. The author does a great job with the German, British, and Thai accents.
The author's many interesting adventures with women, all show him something about life. The author does a good job bringing out the conflicts through the drama, and the details of physical setting are vivid and colorful, and smoothly woven into the scenes. The Butterfly Trap is a compelling read and a refreshing change of pace.
-William Greenleaf
Greenleaf Literary Services
Read an Interview with the Author
Read the First Few Pages
How to Buy Your Copy
