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Jakarta Inside Out

Jakarta Inside Out is unlike any other book on the Indonesian capital. It is an honest, humorous, contemporary snapshot of a 21st-Century Southeast Asian city bursting at the seams but plugging along nonetheless; of ordinary people in their urban landscape; of culture and pop culture. And it is hardly a typical 'portrait' because it actually tells the truth about Jakarta, with the proverbial good, bad, and ugly prominently on display. It provides insights into the chaotic reality of everyday life in the city rather than discussing shadow puppets or official monuments with official takes.

Jakarta Inside Out quite literally turns Jakarta 'inside out', exposing the city piece by piece to the reader in a quirky, intelligent and accessible manner. It covers topics like soap opera celebrities, Chinatown, political demonstrations, love hotels, karaoke bars, bajaj, mall culture, toll roads, hand phones, road jockeys, Tanamur, energy drinks, piracy, traffic police, urban legends, massage parlors, and durian. Like Jakarta itself, the book is packed with idiosyncrasies, inside scoops and quirky anecdotes. And it is fully illustrated with color photos by some of the city's most talented young photographers. Jakarta Inside Out is essential reading for any visitor or resident intent on understanding one of Asia's most fascinating cities.

Daniel Ziv came to Jakarta four years ago as a freelance journalist and doctoral research student on Indonesian social politics, but abandoned such noble pursuits for the strange idea to start up the irreverent djakarta! The City Life Magazine, where until recently he was Editor-in-Chief. He has since presented travel segments on Jakarta for Discovery Channel and Pilot Guides, and to further cheapen his image, recently recorded the sappy love theme for the hot new Indonesian TV soap opera, Strawberry. Daniel has lived, worked, studied or idled in Vancouver, New Delhi, London, Moscow, Jerusalem and Bangkok, and by paying off the right people managed to earn an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from London's School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS). He currently works in the murky field of development consultancy.

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