Jack and Liam, fed up with kiss-my-arse bosses and nose-to-nipple commutes, quit their jobs and move to a small town in Turkey. Join the culture-curious gay couple on their bumpy rite of passage in a Muslim country. Meet the oddballs, VOMITs, vetpats, emigreys, semigreys, debauched waiters and middle England miseries. When bigotry and ignorance emerge from the crude underbelly of Turkey's expat life, Jack and Liam waver. Determined to stay the course, the happy hedonistas hitch up their skirts, move to the heart of liberal Bodrum and fall in love with their intoxicating foster land. Enter Jack's irreverent world for a right royal dose of misery and joy, bigotry and enlightenment, betrayal and loyalty, friendship, love, earthquakes, birth, adoption and a senseless murder. Perking the Pansies will make you laugh out loud one minute and sob into your crumpled tissue the next. "Scott pulls no punches. A good read and hopefully the first of many by new boy on the block." Jane Akatay, journalist "An insightful tale of life abroad - with a twist - from the pen of a serial people watcher. Expat Jack lays his characters bare along with his heart and soul,'' Kym Ciftci, On the Ege Magazine, Ontheege.com "Jack and Liam bring a certain je ne sais quoi to the souks and heap a plate of dry British wit to their Ottoman misadventures," Charles Ayres, author, Impossibly Glamorous Impossiblyglamorous.com "... hilarious, saucy, witty, heartwarming and incredibly moving, Perking the Pansies is chock full of odd characters and odder situations. Jack Scott has a way with words and proves that it is the relationships we surround ourselves with that matter most," Linda A Janssens, Writer and Co-Author, Turning Points, Adventuresinexpatland.com
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"Scott pulls no punches. A good read and hopefully the first of many by new boy on the block." Jane Akatay, journalist "An insightful tale of life abroad - with a twist - from the pen of a serial people watcher. Expat Jack lays his characters bare along with his heart and soul," Kym Ciftci, On the Ege Magazine, Ontheege.com "Jack and Liam bring a certain je ne sais quoi to the souks and heap a plate of dry British wit to their Ottoman misadventures," Charles Ayres, author, Impossibly Glamorous Impossiblyglamorous.com "...hilarious, saucy, witty, heartwarming and incredibly moving, Perking the Pansies is chock full of odd characters and odder situations. Jack Scott has a way with words and proves that it is the relationships we surround ourselves with that matter most," Linda A Janssens, Writer and Co-Author, Turning Points, Adventuresinexpatland.com
About the Author
Jack Scott was born on a British army base in Canterbury, England in 1960 and spent part of his childhood in Malaysia as a "forces brat". A fondness for men in uniforms quickly developed. At the age of eighteen and determined to dodge further education, Jack became a shop boy on Chelsea's trendy King's Road: "Days on the tills and nights on the tiles were the best probation for a young gay man about town." After two carefree years, Jack swapped sales for security and got a sensible job in local government. By his late forties, passionately dissatisfied with suburban life and middle management, he and his civil partner Liam abandoned the sanctuary of liberal London for an uncertain future in Turkey. In 2010, Jack started an irreverent narrative about his new life and Perking the Pansies quickly became one of the most popular English language blogs in Turkey. Within a year, Jack had been featured in the Turkish National Press, had become a resident columnist at On the Ege magazine, had published numerous essays and articles in expat and travel magazines and contributed to the Huffington Post Union of Bloggers. As the blog developed a head of steam, a growing worldwide audience clamoured for a book. Jack duly obliged and his hilarious (well, he thinks so) memoir, Perking the Pansies, hit the streets. He continues to waste time as a freelance writer and currently lives in Bodrum.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Y Alley
Format:Kindle Edition
This book gives a wonderful insight to what it must be like to up sticks and move abroad. Jack Scott writes so descriptively, making each character jump out of the page. Each paragraph thumps with emotional highs and lows making this funny, sad, bittersweet, frustrating and funny again all within one sentance.
This is one of the funniest and honest books I've ever read. Can't wait for the encore!
This is one of the funniest and honest books I've ever read. Can't wait for the encore!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Kym Hamer
Format:Kindle Edition
As an expat myself (an Australian in London), I had been reading Jack's blog for a few months before I read this book so I wondered what to expect. Would it just be a collection of posts about Jack and Liam's move to Turkey? I wasn't sure.
The first part of the book was not an easy read for me, reminding me of my first year in London when I was determined not to be pigeon-holed as the stereotypical 'Walkabout' Aussie. The path is definitely littered with the tried and tested, among which you find the keepers while others disappear, some fading away gently, others departing with a 'bang'. Jack and Liam's winding path through the Ignorati, the VOMITs, the Emigreys is not unqiue to the hills of Anatolia but this adds richness to where we find them in the final chapters.
This is an expat tale of discovery, open-ness and solidarity. The discovery that a life exists beyond the comfortable, in a myriad of moments and observations, about our opinions of others and what we see reflected back about ourselves. The honesty in celebrating, questioning and mourning not just people, but beliefs and dreams about the world at large and the small secular world of Jack's own Turkey. And solidarity - family, friends and kindred spirits, when personal history sits alongside new bonds of kindness, kinship and tragedy.
A must read for expats, travellers and life's adventurers - big and small.
The first part of the book was not an easy read for me, reminding me of my first year in London when I was determined not to be pigeon-holed as the stereotypical 'Walkabout' Aussie. The path is definitely littered with the tried and tested, among which you find the keepers while others disappear, some fading away gently, others departing with a 'bang'. Jack and Liam's winding path through the Ignorati, the VOMITs, the Emigreys is not unqiue to the hills of Anatolia but this adds richness to where we find them in the final chapters.
This is an expat tale of discovery, open-ness and solidarity. The discovery that a life exists beyond the comfortable, in a myriad of moments and observations, about our opinions of others and what we see reflected back about ourselves. The honesty in celebrating, questioning and mourning not just people, but beliefs and dreams about the world at large and the small secular world of Jack's own Turkey. And solidarity - family, friends and kindred spirits, when personal history sits alongside new bonds of kindness, kinship and tragedy.
A must read for expats, travellers and life's adventurers - big and small.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
fantastic, humorous, insightful read. I'm completely bowled over by the life Jack and Liam have carved for themselves, and love jack's fast paced writing style. I've lived in turkey for nearly 10 years now, and loved reading about his experiences and life here. This is an excellent book for anyone who's ever wondered what it's like to make an almost blind leap of faith moving abroad, or anyone who fancies a really great read. Thoroughly wonderful, and I couldn't put it down, even with two little sons to entertain. Recommend recommend recommend.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By texkourgan
Format:Paperback
As an expat, you feel a kinship with anyone struggling with the difficulties of adjusting to expat life. Reading Perking the Pansies goes beyond this. You feel an instant affection for Jack and Liam, their families, and the rag tag group of Emigreys, VOMITS, Semigreys, and the lot.
Jack explores the "extraordinary expat bubble", where things that were true in your past life are no longer reality. But as I read about life in Turkey beautifully interwoven with their stories of visiting Old Blighty, I couldn't tell the difference between real and expat as both were extraordinary. Aging parents, nightmare neighbors, gay weddings, lost lovers, and lots of wine...sounds like Life to me.
This book is more a "how-not-to-do" that a "how to" in moving abroad, but it doesn't really matter as everything works out in the end. However, I guess I shouldn't say the end. I can't wait to hear what happens next
Jack explores the "extraordinary expat bubble", where things that were true in your past life are no longer reality. But as I read about life in Turkey beautifully interwoven with their stories of visiting Old Blighty, I couldn't tell the difference between real and expat as both were extraordinary. Aging parents, nightmare neighbors, gay weddings, lost lovers, and lots of wine...sounds like Life to me.
This book is more a "how-not-to-do" that a "how to" in moving abroad, but it doesn't really matter as everything works out in the end. However, I guess I shouldn't say the end. I can't wait to hear what happens next
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`Just imagine the absurdity of two openly gay, recently married, middle-aged, middle class men escaping the liberal sanctuary of anonymous London to relocate to a Muslim country'.
Thus opens Jack's book and blog, both of the same name and both of which tell of the ecstasies and the agonies of his expatriation with hubby Liam.
The relocation, purely and simply a total kick-back against the chafing demands of predictable office life (and, in Liam's case, against the personification of furry handcuffs in the form of his boss), was, after some consideration, to Türkiye.
The choice was heavily influenced by Budget, who accompanied them at the negotiating table whenever and wherever. It was Budget who insisted that Turkey would allow Jack and Liam a better chance of fiscal survival than, say, Spain - even though Spain would probably have been the more sensible choice over a Muslim country, albeit a moderate one, for gay men with a propensity to shout, "I am what I am!"
Actually, many of Jack's challenges did not, in the end, come from Turkish attitudes, although a homophobic murder and the snatching of a small child are of course immensely challenging. No - his biggest source of problems were to be found amongst the expat community. Here, Jack has excelled - he has compiled a whole new lexicon of terms for the various shades of expat. I won't spoil the fun by naming them, but Jack's somewhat scary caricatures of expat types are both undeniably spot-on and hilarious.
In fact, most of Jack's writing is very funny, apart from the few areas of pathos. He observes people pithily, taking no prisoners. But he also writes descriptive passages with mastery, painting landscapes and creating moods excellently.... Read more ›
Thus opens Jack's book and blog, both of the same name and both of which tell of the ecstasies and the agonies of his expatriation with hubby Liam.
The relocation, purely and simply a total kick-back against the chafing demands of predictable office life (and, in Liam's case, against the personification of furry handcuffs in the form of his boss), was, after some consideration, to Türkiye.
The choice was heavily influenced by Budget, who accompanied them at the negotiating table whenever and wherever. It was Budget who insisted that Turkey would allow Jack and Liam a better chance of fiscal survival than, say, Spain - even though Spain would probably have been the more sensible choice over a Muslim country, albeit a moderate one, for gay men with a propensity to shout, "I am what I am!"
Actually, many of Jack's challenges did not, in the end, come from Turkish attitudes, although a homophobic murder and the snatching of a small child are of course immensely challenging. No - his biggest source of problems were to be found amongst the expat community. Here, Jack has excelled - he has compiled a whole new lexicon of terms for the various shades of expat. I won't spoil the fun by naming them, but Jack's somewhat scary caricatures of expat types are both undeniably spot-on and hilarious.
In fact, most of Jack's writing is very funny, apart from the few areas of pathos. He observes people pithily, taking no prisoners. But he also writes descriptive passages with mastery, painting landscapes and creating moods excellently.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Birk Larsson
Format:Paperback
Jack Scott's first book is many things: A well written narrative (which has you laughing out loud but then brings a tear to the eye at the turn of a page); An exciting and emotional account of a mid-life move to the sun; and a refreshing and insightful look at the Turkey none of us reads about in the guide books. Guide books are necessary but don't give you the 'real' place you're visiting, what day to day life may actually be like for a couple of middle-aged men from London. This book is written with intelligence and wit and has the reader begging for more with every short chapter - what will happen next on Jack and Liam's rollercoaster journey into the unknown world of Turkish bureaucracy, ex-pat life and trips to Ikea? Jack calls a spade a spade - no mincing his words - his honesty is a breath of fresh air and helps us all question what is really important in our lives. I loved it! Can't wait for his next.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
great beach read
I wasn't very popular around the pool and it's all down to a pansy book!
The reason was that each day I would be laughing and smiling so much that my partner would ask why and... Read more
The reason was that each day I would be laughing and smiling so much that my partner would ask why and... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Mr. M. Harnett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put it down!
I loved this book, I don't know where time went when I was reading it! I knew that the book had been written off the back of a blog and I was curious to see how the blog format... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lenora
4.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!
Loved the blog so bought the book and wasn't disappointed at all. As a regular visitor to Turkey it was easy to recognise many of the ex-pat "types".
Published 1 month ago by Mrs PJ Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent and funny read
I'm thinking of emigrating to Turkey and bought this to get an insight into the challenges faced (and experiences gained) by someone who has tread this particular path before. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Graham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perking the pansies-jack and Liam move to Turkey
Loved it from start to finish! Well written with humour and pathos. A must for any Turkey aficionados- more please!
Published 2 months ago by Mosie l
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really enjoyed this book
As someone who owns a property in Turkey and spends a lot of time there, I understand how wonderful yet frustrating life can be there! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Amanda Nottingham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous
As someone who owns a property in Turkey it was refreshing to read that others had been down our road, I recognize some of the people obviously protected with a name change thanks... Read more
Published 4 months ago by William
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun read
Happy memories of my time in Turkey, especially in this area. For anyone that has an interest in the Bodrum area it's definately a fun read
Published 4 months ago by Golden2512
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun frothy read
'Perking the Pansies' was a fun read, like sitting down with a pal and gossiping about travel adventures. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jonathan Welford
4.0 out of 5 stars
Witty book
I was attracted to this book because of it's connection with Turkey, the book itself was witty and funny, with good insights into the ex-pat community. Read more
Published 5 months ago by LM
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