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Bali: Life on the Ring of Fire

Book Chapters - 10 Spells

By Arlo HenningsPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
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Book Cover by Tuva Mathilde Løland

Photo by Tuva Mathilde Løland on Unsplash

The book is dedicated to Wayan Sujana — the Balinese man who saved my life. It is also in beloved memory of Anne Marie Kathryn Drozdz, Renny Tasker, and 52-Goodfingers.

About This Book

This book encompasses my true decade-long experience living in Bali and greater Indonesia. The Names changed and dialogue recreated to capture the essence of the moment.

Bali: Life on the Ring of Fire is a holding nothing back account of my expat life. Pain, warmth, humor, and a bold statement on how being crazy in a sick society is healthy. 10 true stories patch together dreamscape. Part elegy for the departed and for time itself.

Bali: Life on the Ring of Fire also digs beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world. World-weary wisdom. Infuse such sunburned narrative as rock n’ roll. Shamanism, skateboarding on volcano rims, global settings, and underrepresented voices.

Set in reality. But explores something fantastical. Narratives with a surreal or subversive bent. Taken together. This collection comprises a mosaic of what it means to be alive as a whole person — Author.

Bali--Life on the Ring of Fire is a compelling, and to-the-heart honest, retelling of one's expat dream to live in Bali. Arlo Hennings takes the reader on a 10-year journey from his challenging childhood, blossoming as a poet, song writer, musician, agent, husband, father, son… to his current life in Indonesia where he continues to promote and create music. The inspiration that brought him to Bali began at an Occupy protest where he was clubbed and arrested, having lost his job, home, marriage. A dramatic, and very real, event, as are many events in Henning’s life journey.

The villa Hennings builds in Bali for visitors - the visitor’s descriptions come alive on the page with insight, and Henning’s trademark humor (you will LOL). The shaman, 52 Goodfingers, will live in my heart forever - sacred, alive, tragic, hilarious. This memoir reveals family tragedies, personal tragedies, and so much JOY, appetite for La Vida, from his boyhood to his present life. Hennings’ humor is like a sweet tide that keeps bringing us to shore, and his sheer love of being alive brings deep wisdom within these pages. I’m left with a sense of transcendence, with that jolt of laughter that makes it all absolutely real. And human.

Alma Luz Villanueva, winner American Book Award

I found Bali--Life on the Ring of Fire a wonderfully open and compelling memoir of an adventurous soul. No one will be able to read this book without asking, "And what am I doing with MY life?" - Jim Heynen, author, "The Boys," "Ordinary Sins," "The Fall of Alice K." Former book editor, Minneapolis Star and Tribune.

Table of Contents

Journey to Nomadland

Bali — New Years Eve

Health, Clarity, and Money

My Bali Guesthouse

The Balinese Man Who Saved My Life

Mother and Daughter Addicts Both

Unsung Hero Dreamt of Saving Children

There is no Shadow on the Equator

How to Drink Yourself to Death in Bali

I Married into a Foreign Culture

Survival Guide for First-Time Expats to Bali and Indonesia — Afterword

Journey to Nomadland

Chapter 1

Bali--New Years Eve

Chapter 2

Health, Clarity, and Money

Chapter 3

My Bali Guesthouse

Chapter 4

The Balinese Man Who Saved My Life

Chapter 5

My Daughter and her Mother Addicts Both

Chapter 6

Unsung Hero Dreamt of Saving Children

Chapter 7

There is No Shadow on the Equator

Chapter 8

How to Drink Yourself to Death in Bali

Chapter 9

I Married into a Foreign Culture

Chapter 10

Survival Guide for Potential First-Time Expats to Bali and Indonesia

Afterword

Bali--Life on the Ring of Fire can be downloaded in .PDF form or read as a flipbook on his web site Arlo Hennings.com

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About the Creator

Arlo Hennings

Author 2 non-fiction books, music publisher, expat, father, cultural ambassador, PhD, MFA (Creative Writing), B.A.

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