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Meet Zachary Kwan, a middling novelist trapped in a bout of writer’s block. His marriage to a celebrity model is on the rocks, his latest book is met with scathing reviews, and he’s about to be cancelled. Things really couldn’t get any worse.
Spoiler alert: they do.
A zombie epidemic takes over the world. And Zachary Kwan, writer of best-selling self-help book under a pseudonym, is infected.
Written in poetic form by Felix Cheong and illustrated by Arif Rafhan, Be Real puts a finger on the zeitgeist of our times. In an age defined by curation, how do we know what is real? Will we even recognize ourselves when we reveal our ‘true’ selves?
Published: Feb/2025
EISBN:
ISBN: 9789815233032
Length: 160 Pages
Imprint: Audiobook
Published:
ISBN:
Meet Zachary Kwan, a middling novelist trapped in a bout of writer’s block. His marriage to a celebrity model is on the rocks, his latest book is met with scathing reviews, and he’s about to be cancelled. Things really couldn’t get any worse.
Spoiler alert: they do.
A zombie epidemic takes over the world. And Zachary Kwan, writer of best-selling self-help book under a pseudonym, is infected.
Written in poetic form by Felix Cheong and illustrated by Arif Rafhan, Be Real puts a finger on the zeitgeist of our times. In an age defined by curation, how do we know what is real? Will we even recognize ourselves when we reveal our ‘true’ selves?
Felix Cheong is the author of thirty books across different genres, from poetry to short stories, from children’s picture books to young adult fiction. He has also published five graphic novels, including The Showgirl and the Minister in collaboration with Arif Rafhan. Winner of the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award in 2000, Felix has been invited to writers festival all over the world, including Edinburgh, Austin, Sydney, Brisbane and Christchurch. He holds a masters in Creative Writing and is currently an adjunct lecturer with the National University of Singapore, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Curtin University and Murdoch University.
Arif Rafhan is an award-winning comics artist based in Kuala Lumpur. His work can be seen in more than forty publications in Malaysia, Singapore and the US. His contribution includes Malaysia's longest-running humour magazine, Gila-Gila, as well as under Dato Lat for his graphic novel, Mat Som 2. His graphic novel, Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma 2, his fourth collaboration with writer Melanie Lee, won Best Young Person's Title at the Singapore Book Awards in 2023. Be Real: A Guide to Authenticity is his fifth collaboration with Felix Cheong.