# Father, Rebel, Dreamer: a book about fathers, sons, and the town of Mangalore



## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

In this book of stories and essays about fatherhood and Mangalore (see SALE DETAILS in last post):

--A Dutch artist and loving father finds himself lost in Thailand, takes an overdose of Valium, and dies, only to have his corpse sent to his young children. 
--An author thinks of a book as if it were a child, and suffers the same trauma when his books "die."
--A son who has been arrogant and condescending towards his old father, suddenly finds that the father is ageing and that he might lose him; he begins to appreciate his father's true greatness, which his own personal sense of injury had hidden from him; he hastens to bring a long-forgotten and unpublished book of his father's into existence, and has the pleasure of seeing him become, in the world's eyes, an author, less than two years before his death.
--What would be the most appropriate monument to commemorate the visits of the great South Indian monarch, Tippu Sultan, to Mangalore? 
The author's passion, humor, humanity, and feeling, are all blended together, in varying amounts, in this eclectic book by the author of the acclaimed novel "The Revised Kama Sutra."


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051OEQPA

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/64287

Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/richard-crasta/father-rebel-and-dreamer/_/R-400000000000000406438



Thank you!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Congratulations on your book, Richard!

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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

A very personal story, written as therapy, with insights into Mangalore, my home town. A very eclectic book for all those who have lost something very personal and precious.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Hi all,

If you are looking for a Fathers Day gift for an unusual, intelligent father--who has had some sadness in his life, this may fit.

If you want to give the gift of pure laughter, my choice would be "I Will NOT Go the F*** to Sleep"--my new book.

And "Eaten by the Japanese"--my father-son collaboration story--is a touching father son story along with being a POW memoir.

Yes, I know, the price of the first book has gone up--my audience is small and selective, which is why I have to charge a bit more.

thank you,
Richard


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Down to 1.99 on Smashwords. 
would love your opinion of the cover, by the way.
thanks
Richard


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Ok, now at Smashwords, Sony, Itunes, Kobo.
Short but sweet.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

And Merry Xmas if I don't have the chance to say so . . . and a Happy New Year.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Me with my Mother
Friday, January 20, 2012
Father, Rebel, Dreamer: An Excerpt
An Excerpt from this Eclectic, surprisingly varied book:

This is why every act of injustice matters, is important. For injustice is like a cancer, like a hundred thousand cancers growing in the different body parts of society.
Just the other day, legendary Indian editors N.Ram and Vinod Mehta were on a television show discussing journalistic ethics. But do they truly care and ensure that they and every employee of theirs, while wielding their enormous power, try to be just in every instance? And what about in publishing, which is an arm of the Press, a tool of freedom of expression and the democratic process of debate and of intellectual enquiry: does it not too deserve an Ombudsman?
To return to the story of Beauty Queens, Children and the Death of Sex: About two months before the launch date, the editor who had embraced the original manuscript and concept so enthusiastically was suddenly determined to suppress a few chapters. I resisted those attempts, but did not have the energy or the heart to withdraw a book that had been growing for seven months in my womb, and within two months would be out and alive in the world, a loveable if somewhat defective creature. So I compromised and accepted some cuts, though not all the cuts I noticed when the book actually came out.
So the baby that emerged was a book in which some parts had been ripped out: a baby missing an arm, say. However, because the ripping out was hurried, not all and indeed not most of the dangerous elements of the book had been cleanly ripped out. Which is not so easy to do with my work; a fan of my next book, Impressing the Whites, remarked that if I had submitted it to a regular Indian publisher, the final printed work, after the publisher had cut out the dangerous material, would have contained just two pages: the title page, and the Acknowledgments page So the end product was still dangerous, though somehow damaged, bleeding, not whole, lacking its integrity, a flawed child.

And this snippet about Mangalore:
And now, twenty-four tumultuous years later, I was on my way to see Dennis, a little nervous yet excited about the beans he might spill.
At the bus stand, where yellow-plastic-enclosed copies of "Rati Shastra" (the poor Indian's "Sensuous Man"-but this is a post‑1970 development) are still sold side-by-side with oranges and jasmine flowers, I took an autorickshaw past Kirti Mahal, St. Mary's Convent, and St. Joseph's Bakery to the path through dense tropical foliage-you had to walk now, assuming you could pick up your pulverized bones and step out of the auto‑rickshaw-and you were now in front of the bamboo‑obstacle that was the gate to Dennis's house.
This was pretty much the route I had traversed as a child. Things hadn't changed all that much since then. Dennis's house, an old, tiled affair with a veranda and a porch, enveloped in a leafy cocoon of tropical darkness, recalled that very time. As did the cobwebbed yellow walls, on which stained gloomy, framed photographs of various dead relatives lying in state alternated with occasional wedding photographs of assorted relatives, the newlyweds seemingly in a state of shock. A single, dominant steel cross completed the picture: Mangalore's obsession with death, marriage, and religion. Dennis, a lean man in a chocolate-brown sweater, lungi, and crudely cut leather sandals, his scarecrow frame topped by a shock of white Bertrand Russell hair, his glass-magnified eyes, Dr. Spock ears, and bony, accusing fingers magnifying the impression of eccentric intensity, looked most of his ninety-five years-until he started to hold forth from his "easy chair" pulpit in the manner and voice of an ancient but impassioned priest.

Also on Apple, Amazon Kindle, Nook, etc:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051OEQPA
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/64287


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Now on sale on Kindle.
thank you.
richard


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

A thoughtful Valentine's Day gift for a thoughtful father--any father?


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Eclectic.
"Eaten by the Japanese"--another of my books that would make a great gift to a father or to a veteran.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

On sale at Smashwords. Look for the coupon code. All my books on Smashwords on Sale.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Hi,
This book is half price on Smashwords till March 30, along with 5 other titles:

Details below:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/richardcrasta

FATHER, REBEL, DREAMER
Promotional price: $2.00
Coupon Code: ZB46F
Expires: March 30, 2012

The Revised Kama Sutra: A Novel
Promotional price: $4.00
Coupon Code: BT74M
Expires: March 31, 2012

The Hunger for Touch and Love
Promotional price: $3.00
Coupon Code: RX85Q
Expires: March 31, 2012

EATEN BY THE JAPANESE
Promotional price: $2.50
Coupon Code: BT83R
Expires: March 31, 2012

I WILL NOT GO THE F TO SLEEP
Promotional price: $2.23
Coupon Code: TY73Z
Expires: March 30, 2012

LORD BUSH OF IRAQ
Promotional price: $0.99
Coupon Code: ZM64G
Expires: March 31, 2012

thanks!


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Last day of sale tomorrow.

Thank you.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Available on all major platforms including Apple, Amazon, Nook, etc.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

For details of my book sale/free giveaway, please visit my blog: http://richardcrasta.blogspot.com


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Remembering my father today, on Memorial Day. He is also the author of "Eaten by the Japanese."


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

This is one kind of Fathers Day book, and it is complemented by my new book:

FATHERHOOD IS ETERNAL: Letters to My Sons

If, as Franz Kafka said, a book ought to be the axe for the frozen sea inside us, my hunch is that this is one such book.

thanks!
Richard


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

And besides this, here is a list of other books you might consider gifting, or reading, for Father's Day, or around then. (Fathers are human, they have multiple needs, including touch and love!)

http://richardcrasta.blogspot.com/2012/06/fathers-day-gift-books-from-author-and.html

Thank you.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

The Terrorist Mother-in-Law will send chills through your spine


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Untypical--go outside yourself, reach out to a different world.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Now on all platforms, including Kobo.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

A book with multiple themes.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Still here. Hope you're having a nice Sunday, wherever you are.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

It's on at Kindle, Nook, Smashwords.

Each have a book for 99 cents at present, or more than one book.

thank you!


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Still on sale for 99 cents on Kindle and a few other platforms.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

And I bet you're one. I challenge you to read this and not be moved.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Yes, just mentioned the free one in the first post: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AMJQ8GO

If you have a sense of humor and are not allergic to the f-word.

A completely different approach and tone in FATHER, REBEL, DREAMER.

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself.--Walt Whitman.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Merry Xmas, all.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

This is the first, basic book.
LETTERS TO MY SONS is the most recent.
FATHERS AND SONS, WAR AND LOVE is a 3-book bundle.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

To explain "Partial Requiem":

I've unpublished this book from a few platforms because of lack of sales, but it's still part of "Fathers and Sons, War & Love" (the 3-book bundle) on Kindle.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Still here, for the sensitive reader who wants something deeper.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Fathers Day approaches . . . wish you a great June.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

A short book with humor, whimsicality, passion, and love and loss.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Love and loss, humor and insight, fathers and sons. A sleepy Indian town: an Indian Macondo.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Happy Father's Day!


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