Thanks to Orion’s Daliah Barkan, Ari Barkan, and team for launching Koh Phangan’s first full-length nonfiction book on what people seek and find on our magic island. A well-appointed full house thanks to Nadia Villaverde with readings from Daliah, Michal Ora, and Charlie Solares. Also the “unveling” of the original abstract painting by Panyavee Adler that illuminates the book’s cover.
Uniformly excellent reviews for Full Moon over Koh Phangan: What Adventurers, Dancers, and Freaks Seek and Find on Thailand’s Magic Island are already coming in during launch week. Book excerpts will be published on Conscious Community, Medium.com, and Sharon Kahati‘s Phanganist.com. You can purchase the ebook for only $4.95, priced for easy access and enjoyment.
An early review from Tim Cutting:
“Multi faceted book, multi faceted island Koh Phangan is the Thai island of the notorious/beloved full moon parties. But of course it is so much more. In this book Gruber gives us the perspectives of 25 people who know the island well, many of them since the early days of the full moon festivals. And although the focus of the book is on the party culture, the stories told by them include the historical, social and cultural background that provided the fertile ground in which that culture germinated and flourished. Gruber’s long experience as interviewer and journalist has given him the skills to bring authenticity to the wide variety of voices found in these pages. I happen to know one of them quite well and can hear the tones, inflexions, and speech patterns, and even see the facial expressions they use, in the written word. I am also familiar enough with the hippies, travellers and ravers who populate these stories to recognise a remarkable feat of writing that Gruber has achieved here. Some of his respondents show a profound understanding of the spiritual searches that have been and are ongoing in this community, whilst others have lost their way either temporarily or into one or other of the many rabbit holes that beset those on this journey. And you can take your pick as to whom you find yourself resonating with! A wonderful read, and, in my opinion, an important social document. Recommended!”