Dutch-booked

Dutch-booked's Norbert Radd, the main character of the novel, has been ductch-booked. He's made career bets that have added up to an overall loss materially, but he's still smiling and still loved and still going. The novel traces his life as an expatriate American working as a mariner, English cram school teacher, and university English composition instructor, through the Philippines, Seoul, and central China, with a tale-within-a-tale that serves as a contrast between Stateside life and expat life.