It may not be long before other Asian writers follow suit. One prospective invitee to next year’s festival is twenty-six-year-old Rattawut Lapcharoensap. Rattawut was born in Chicago but raised in Bangkok. Sightseeing, his first book of stories, detailing Thailand’s struggles with globalization, was widely acclaimed in the United States this past winter. The first story sets the tone: “We’re having a late lunch, watching television in the motel office. The Island Network is showing Rambo: First Blood Part II again. Sylvester Stallone, dubbed in Thai, mows down an entire regiment of [Viet Cong] with a bow and arrow.”