I have this vision of Jim Thompson that embodies just about everything I think of when I think of Southeast Asia: interesting, exotic, and more than a little mysterious. A few facts are incontrovertible: He was born in 1906, and attended Princeton. He was a working architect in New York, and then became director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1941, he abruptly quit his job and joined the Delaware National Guard. He was married, but about six months after the wedding, the military sent him overseas. The marriage did not survive the war. During World War Two he was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA, and served in Southeast Asia. When the war ended, he was assigned to the American Legation in Thailand. He liked Thailand, and
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