Silverfish Pulp

Book launch of 21 Immortals by Rozlan  Mohd Noor on Saturday, the 25th of September 2010 at 5.30pm at  Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, (map) Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Tel: 228 448 37. Admission is free.

Pulp fiction has been defined as 'Novels written for mass consumption, often emphasizing exciting and titillating plots'. Exciting, it most certainly is; tittilating, you decide. 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders is an explosive debut from the quietly talented Rozlan Mohd Noor, an ex-police officer, which explains why he knows so much about police work and inside stories. This is a true Malaysian high-tech crime thriller with good cops, bad cops (and badder cops) and triad members, with insights into the workings of the local CSI, and forays into the world of hackers and their viruses, sleeper programs, trojans, ulat, spybots, hound dogs and their link to crime, including murder

Rozlan Mohd Noor was an officer with the Royal Malaysian Police for 11 years before opting for a carrer in human resource management at several major corporations and multinationals and, eventually, opening his own HR and security consultancy. Even after leaving the force, the evolution of crime fighting techniques and the introduction of technology continues to fascinate him. He wrote crime stories to entertain his friends. Later, encouraged by them, he started working on novels.

Parables, Prophets and Pillocks

Corrigendum: This event will be the Malaysian launch of Cecil Rajendra's latest book Parables, Prophets and Pillocks (which has already been launched in the UK). This is not to be confused with the readings (of his older works) by him on the 16th of September at Leonardo's Wine Loft in celebration of Malaysia Day 2010.

Reading by Cecil Rajendra on Saturday, the 18th of September at 6.00pm at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, (map) Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Tel: 228 448 37, in commemoration of Malaysia Day, the first time it is being celebrated with a holiday since Malaysia was declared in 1963. (Crazy but true.) Admission is free, but do come early if you have any idea how a Cecil Rajendra event attracts people (including some you might not recognise).

Parables, Prophets and Pillocks is Cecil Rajendra's 20th collection of poetry and marks over 40 years of creative writing. His first collection, Embryo, was published in London in 1965 while he was still a student reading law at Lincoln's Inn. His poems have been published in over 50 countries and have been translated into many languages including German, French, Japanese, Malay, Tamil, Tagalog and Swahili.

On his return from London, Rajendra initiated Malaysia's first rural legal aid centre in a remote village offering pro-bono legal advice and assistance to farmers, fishermen and factory workers. In 2005, Cecil Rajendra became the first receipient of the Malaysian Humanitarian Award.

Malay movies

120 Malay Movies (HB) by Amir Muhammad (Matahari Books -- 2010) RM60.00

Book talk with video by Amir Muhammad at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 21st August 2010 at 5.00 pm. (Amir says the first edition won't go to the chain bookshops! Yay.) The event will finish before buka puasa. (Admission is free.)

120 MALAY MOVIES is a romp through the films that were made in Singapore and then in Kuala Lumpur from 1948 to 1972. (120 represents about a third of all Malay-language films during that period, and this book features most of the famous titles as well as some overlooked gems.) Malaysian writer and filmmaker Amir Muhammad watched them in chronological order and responds to the stories in his own contemporary context. How was the world depicted in those films different from the one we live in today? This book is a serio-comic interrogation into how the iconic fantasies of the past might have unexpected reverberations in the present. This hardcover book also contains hundreds of photographs, and the first edition is not sold in the chain bookshops. View three sample chapters here!