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A charming and insightful memoir about coming of age as a fashion journalist in 1980s Paris, by former Vogue and…
Harper's Bazaar editor Kate Betts, the author of Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style"You can always come back," my mother said. "Just go." As a young woman, Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking out on her own in a faraway place and becoming a glamorous foreign correspondent. After college--and not without trepidation--she took off for Paris, renting a room in the apartment of a young BCBG (bon chic, bon genre) family and throwing herself into the local culture. She was determined to master French slang, style, and savoir faire, and to find a job that would give her a reason to stay.After a series of dues-paying jobs that seemed only to reinforce her outsider status, Kate's hard work and willingness to take on any assignment paid off: Her writing and intrepid forays into la France Profonde--true France--caught the eye of John Fairchild, the mercurial fashion arbiter and publisher of Women's Wear Daily, the industry's bible. Kate's earliest assignments--investigating the mineral water preferred by high society, chasing after a costumed band of wild boar hunters through the forests of Brittany--were a rough apprenticeship, but she was rewarded for her efforts and was initiated into the elite ranks of Mr. Fairchild's trusted few who sat beside him in the front row and at private previews in the ateliers of the gods of French fashion. From a woozy yet mesmerizing Yves Saint Laurent and the mischievous and commanding Karl Lagerfeld to the riotous, brilliant young guns who were rewriting all the rules--Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, John Galliano--Betts gives us a view of what it was like to be an American girl, learning about herself, falling in love, and finding her tribe.Kate Betts's captivating memoir brings to life the enchantment of France--from the nightclubs of 1980s Paris where she learned to dance Le Rock, to the lavender fields of Provence and the grand spectacle of the Cour Carrée--and magically re-creates that moment in life when a young woman discovers who she's meant to be. Praise for My Paris Dream "[Betts] shares her coming-of-age in a self-assured book that should be given to every college senior with a Doisneau poster (or Chanel ad) on her wall. . . . Those of us who've been there and back will find it entertaining and sneakily poignant reading on the flight to Charles de Gaulle."--The New York Times Book Review "Even if your summer travel plans don't include a stroll on the Champs Élysées, you'll always have My Paris Dream. . . . As light and refreshing as an ice cream cone from the legendary Berthillon, My Paris Dream evokes the sights, sounds, smells and styles of 1980s Paris."--USA Today"An amazing story of a young woman in Paris trying to break into the fashion business as a journalist, My Paris Dream is a fun read. Kate Betts's trajectory of inventing herself is uniquely her own but incredibly universal as well."--Sophia Amoruso, author of #GIRLBOSS "Kate Betts's story brought me back to my own young self and the journey I made--in my case, from a small town in Illinois to New York City. She's captured that youthful fearlessness and the romantic impulse we have to strike out and find ourselves."--Cindy CrawfordFrom the Hardcover edition.Come Here Often?: 53 Writers Raise a Glass to Their Favorite Bar
Par Ishmael Reed, Malachy Mccourt, Sean Manning, Duff Mckagan, Rosie Schaap. 2013
"A fascinating look into drinking culture around the world" - Condé Nast Traveler"An intoxicating tour" - Time Out New York"Well-curated…
collection of anecdotes, stories and sorrowful remembrances ...A delightful collection that will surely inspire many bar-hopping tours." - Kirkus Reviews"Perfect holiday gift book. . . Between the bars, locales, themes and the writers themselves, there is something here for pretty much everyone." - Forbes.com"This delightful collection of stories takes readers on a journey to cherished watering holes across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia." - Fodor's Travel 2014 Holiday Gift Guide"A reminder that no matter where you are in the world there is always a place nearby that feels like home." - The Paris Review"Like a good bar, the book's clientele of writers and the bars, dives, lounges, and hooch parlors they write about are a diverse, talkative, friendly, serious and funny bunch." - Seattle Magazine"Emotionally resonant, diving well beyond simple stories about watering holes" - Bustle"The handsomely designed, 352-page book covers everything from dives to 'upscale joints,' from Antarctica to Paris. It's often funny, occasionally touching and definitely succeeds in making you thirsty" - The Missoula Independent"In this collection of essays, writers including Joe Meno, Rosie Schaap, and Craig Finn pay tribute to the bars that have shaped them. It's an outstanding and talented group, and a subject that's close to the hearts of many literary types." - Vol. 1 BrooklynA neighborhood bar can become as comfortable as a second home or a memory best avoided-a wild evening half remembered and better forgotten. But what makes a particular bar special, better than the one just down the street? The answers vary considerably as writers share personal stories of drinking establishments both local and exotic. Come Here Often is an intoxicating world tour from Antarctica to New York City, Kiribati to Minnesota, to the places that have inspired-and distracted- some of our favorite contemporary writers over many years and many more drinks.Funny, smart, and poignant, this anthology is a rare opportunity to do some serious armchair drinking with Andrew W.K., Rosie Schaap, Jack Hitt, Jim Shepard, Alissa Nutting, Duff McKagan, Laura Lippman, Craig Finn, Darin Strauss, Elissa Schappell, and many more.Sean Manning is the author of The Things That Need Doing: A Memoir (Broadway, 2010) and editor of four critically acclaimed anthologies including Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book. He has contributed to numerous publications and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Follow Sean on Twitter @talkingcovers.The Wet and the Dry
Par Lawrence Osborne. 2013
A "stylish and engaging...fearlessly honest account" (Financial Times) of man's love of drink, and an insightful meditation on the meaning…
of alcohol consumption across cultures worldwide Drinking alcohol: a beloved tradition, a dangerous addiction, even "a sickness of the soul" (as once described by a group of young Muslim men in Bali). In his wide-ranging travels, Lawrence Osborne--a veritable connoisseur himself--has witnessed opposing views of alcohol across cultures worldwide, compelling him to wonder: is drinking alcohol a sign of civilization and sanity, or the very reverse? Where do societies and their treatment of alcohol fall on the spectrum between indulgence and restraint? These questions launch the author on an audacious journey, from the Middle East, where drinking is prohibited, to the West, where it is an important--yet perhaps very often a ruinous--part of everyday life. Beginning in the bar of a luxury hotel in Milan, Osborne then ventures to the Hezbollah-threatened vineyards of Lebanon; a landmark pub in London; the dangerous drinking dens on the Malaysian border; the only brewery in the alcohol-hostile country of Pakistan; and Oman, where he faces the absurd challenge of finding a bottle of champagne on New Year's Eve. Amid his travels, Osborne unravels the stories of alcoholism in his own family, and reflects on ramifications of alcohol consumption in his own life. An immersing, controversial, and often irreverent travel narrative, The Wet and the Dry offers provocative, sometimes unsettling insights into the deeply embedded conflicts between East and West, and the surprising influence of drinking on the contemporary world today.Marco Polo Didn't Go There
Par Rolf Potts. 2008
Marco Polo Didn't Go There is a collection of rollicking travel tales from a young writer USA Today has called…
"Jack Kerouac for the Internet Age." For the past ten years, Rolf Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far fringes of five continents for such prestigious publications as National Geographic Traveler, Salon.com, and The New York Times Magazine. This book documents his boldest, funniest, and most revealing journeys-from getting stranded without water in the Libyan desert, to crashing the set of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie in Thailand, to learning the secrets of Tantric sex in a dubious Indian ashram.Marco Polo Didn't Go There is more than just an entertaining journey into fascinating corners of the world. The book is a unique window into travel writing, with each chapter containing a "commentary track"-endnotes that reveal the ragged edges behind the experience and creation of each tale. Offbeat and insightful, this book is an engrossing read for students of travel writing as well as armchair wanderers.The Travel Writer's Handbook
Par Louise Purwin Zobel, Jacqueline Harmon Butler. 2012
Veteran travel writer Jacqueline Harmon Butler shows readers, one step at a time, how to research, write, and sell travel…
articles--but most importantly, she details what makes a travel article a winner.In this new edition, Butler updates her bestselling handbook for the 21st century with helpful tips on conducting Internet research, utilizing new advancements in digital photography and finding helpful applications on mobile phones. She also helps aspiring writers navigate the changing world of publishing by exploring blogging, new travel websites, and social media, all while discussing how best to expand your platform.She includes a brand new introduction to reflect the current state of the travel industry and the change in editors' needs. Butler covers all the nuts and bolts aspects of travel writing from pre-trip research, specific marketing strategies, and even includes 12 formats for travel articles with sure-fire appeal to editors and readers. She gives insightful and often humorous advice on pre- and post-trip topics like: How to target your market before you begin How to save time by doing background research before you leave How to write queries and get assignments in advance How to find new angles for overworked subjects What to take along--from video equipment and laptops to travel documents How to set up and conduct successful interviews How to take advantage of freebies and junkets without "selling out" How to sell what you write--and then sell it againIn Search of the Perfect Loaf
Par Samuel Fromartz. 2014
"If you love great bread, you will love this book! From Paris, to Berlin, to Marienthal, Kansas, we follow Sam…
on his quest as he shares his love for bread and the 'baking secrets' he learned along the way." -Daniel Leader, founder of Bread Alone Bakery and author of Bread Alone "This fascinating, beautifully written memoir reveals Sam Fromartz as that rare breed of cook: craftsman, historian and scientist all in one." -Alice Waters, chef/owner of Chez Panisse and author of The Art of Simple Food In 2009, journalist Samuel Fromartz was offered the assignment of a lifetime: to travel to France to work in a boulangerie. So began his quest to hone not just his homemade baguette--which later beat out professional bakeries to win the "Best Baguette of D.C."--but his knowledge of bread, from seed to table. For the next four years, Fromartz traveled across the United States and Europe, perfecting his sourdough in California, his whole grain rye in Berlin, and his country wheat in the South of France. Along the way, he met historians, millers, farmers, wheat geneticists, sourdough biochemists, and everyone in between, learning about the history of breadmaking, the science of fermentation, and more. The result is an informative yet personal account of bread and breadbaking, complete with detailed recipes, tips, and beautiful photographs. Entertaining and inspiring, this book will be a touchstone for a new generation of bakers and a must-read for anyone who wants to take a deeper look at this deceptively ordinary, exceptionally delicious staple: handmade bread.Mediterranean Winter
Par Robert D Kaplan. 2004
In Mediterranean Winter, Robert D. Kaplan, the bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts and Eastward to Tartary, relives an austere, haunting…
journey he took as a youth through the off-season Mediterranean. The awnings are rolled up and the other tourists are gone, so the damp, cold weather takes him back to the 1950s and earlier--a golden, intensely personal age of tourism. Decades ago, Kaplan voyaged from North Africa to Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece, luxuriating in the radical freedom of youth, unaccountable to time because there was always time to make up for a mistake. He recalls that journey in this Persian miniature of a book, less to look inward into his own past than to look outward in order to dissect the process of learning through travel, in which a succession of new landscapes can lead to books and artwork never before encountered.Kaplan first imagines Tunis as the glow of gypsum lamps shimmering against lime-washed mosques; the city he actually discovers is even more intoxicating. He takes the reader to the ramparts of a Turkish kasbah where Carthaginian, Roman, and Byzantine forts once stood: "I could see deep into Algeria over a rib-work of hills so gaunt it seemed the wind had torn the flesh off them." In these austere and aromatic surroundings he discovers Saint Augustine; the courtyards of Tunis lead him to the historical writings of Ibn Khaldun.Kaplan takes us to the fifth-century Greek temple at Segesta, where he reflects on the ill-fated Athenian invasion of Sicily. At Hadrian's villa, "Shattered domes revealed clouds moving overhead in countless visions of eternity. It was a place made for silence and for contemplation, where you wanted a book handy. Every corner was a cloister. No view was panoramic: each seemed deliberately composed." Kaplan's bus and train travels, his nighttime boat voyages, and his long walks in one archaeological site after another lead him to subjects as varied as the Berber threat to Carthage; the Roman army's hunt for the warlord Jugurtha; the legacy of Byzantine art; the medieval Greek philosopher Georgios Gemistos Plethon, who helped kindle the Italian Renaissance; twentieth-century British literary writing about Greece; and the links between Rodin and the Croa-tian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. Within these pages are smells, tastes, and the profundity of chance encounters. Mediterranean Winter begins in Rodin's sculpture garden in Paris, passes through the gritty streets of Marseilles, and ends with a moving epiphany about Greece as the world prepares for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.Mediterranean Winter is the story of an education. It is filled with memories and history, not the author's alone, but humanity's as well.From the Hardcover edition.A Report on the Afterlife of Culture
Par Stephen Henighan. 2008
In this essay collection, Henighan ranges across continents, centuries and linguistic traditions to examine how literary culture and our perception…
of history are changing as the world grows smaller. He weaves together daring literary criticism with front-line reporting on events such as the end of the Cold War in Poland and African reactions to the G8 Summit.Boltzmann's Tomb
Par Bill Green. 2011
A selection of the Scientific American book clubRecommended by MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, & American Association for the Advancement of…
Science's SB&F magazine"This wonderful scientific memoir captures the romance and beauty of research in precise poetic prose that is as gorgeous and evocative as anything written by Rilke, painted by Seurat, or played by Casals." -Mary Doria Russell, author of Doc and The Sparrow"A radiant love letter to science from a scientist with a poet's soul . . . Green is an exquisite writer, and his fierce focus and mastery of style are reminiscent of the biologist and essayist Lewis Thomas." -Kirkus ReviewsIn Boltzmann's Tomb, Bill Green interweaves the story of his own lifelong evolution as a scientist, and his work in the Antarctic, with a travelogue that is a personal and universal history of science. Like Richard Holmes' The Age of Wonder-this book serves as a marvelous introduction to the great figures of science. Along with lyrical meditations on the tragic life of Galileo, the wildly eccentric Tycho Brahe, and the visionary Sir Isaac Newton, Green's ruminations return throughout to the lesser-known figure of Ludwig Boltzmann. Using Boltzmann's theories of randomness and entropy as a larger metaphor for the unpredictable paths that our lives take, Green shows us that science, like art, is a lived adventure. Bill Green is a geochemist and professor emeritus at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is also the author of Water, Ice & Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes which received the American Museum of Natural History's John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing, was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and was excerpted in The Ends of the Earth: An Anthology of the Finest Writing on the Arctic and the Antarctic, edited by Elizabeth Kolbert.Cape Cod
Par Henry David Thoreau, Paul Theroux. 1857
Thoreau's classic account of his meditative, beach-combing walking trips to Cape Cod in the early 1850s, reflecting on the elemental…
forces of the sea Cape Cod chronicles Henry David Thoreau's journey of discovery along this evocative stretch of Massachusetts coastline, during which time he came to understand the complex relationship between the sea and the shore. He spent his nights in lighthouses, in fishing huts, and on isolated farms. He passed his days wandering the beaches, where he observed the wide variety of life and death offered up by the ocean. Through these observations, Thoreau discovered that the only way to truly know the sea--its depth, its wildness, and the natural life it contained--was to study it from the shore. Like his most famous work, Walden, Cape Cod is full of Thoreau's unique perceptions and precise descriptions. But it is also full of his own joy and wonder at having stumbled across a new frontier so close to home, where a man may stand and "put all America behind him." Part of the Penguin Nature Library Series Editor: Edward Hoagland With an Introduction by Paul TherouxGottland
Par Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Mariusz Szczygiel. 2014
Winner of the Europe Book PrizeOne of Europe's most preeminent investigative journalists travels to the Czech Republic--the Czech half of…
the former Czechoslovakia, the land that brought us Kafka--to explore the surreal fictions and the extraordinary reality of its twentieth century. For example, there's the story of the small businessman who adopted Henry Ford's ideas on productivity to create the world's largest shoe company--and hired modernist giants such as Le Corbusier to design his company towns (which were also the birthplaces of Ivana Trump and Tom Stoppard). Or the story of Kafka's niece, who loaned her name to writers blacklisted under the Communist regime so they could keep publishing.Or the story of the singer Karel Gott, winner of the country's Best Male Vocalist Award thirty-six years in a row, whose summer home, Gottland, is the Czech Dollywood. Based on meticulous research and hundreds of interviews with everyone from filmmakers to writers to pop stars to ordinary citizens, Gottland is a kaleidoscopic portrait of a resilient people living through difficult and often bizarre times--equally funny, disturbing, stirring and absurd . . . in a word, Kafkaesque.From the Hardcover edition.Paris, Paris
Par Diane Johnson, David Downie, Alison Harris. 2005
"Beautifully written and refreshingly original... makes us see [Paris] in a different light." -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review Swapping…
his native San Francisco for the City of Light, travel writer David Downie arrived in Paris in 1986 on a one-way ticket, his head full of romantic notions. Curiosity and the legs of a cross-country runner propelled him daily from an unheated, seventh-floor walk-up garret near the Champs-Elysées to the old Montmartre haunts of the doomed painter Modigliani, the tombs of Père-Lachaise cemetery, the luxuriant alleys of the Luxembourg Gardens and the aristocratic Île Saint-Louis midstream in the Seine.Downie wound up living in the chic Marais district, married to the Paris-born American photographer Alison Harris, an equally incurable walker and chronicler. Ten books and a quarter-century later, he still spends several hours every day rambling through Paris, and writing about the city he loves. An irreverent, witty romp featuring thirty-one short prose sketches of people, places and daily life, Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light ranges from the glamorous to the least-known corners and characters of the world's favorite city. Photographs by Alison Harris. "I loved his collection of essays and anyone who's visited Paris in the past, or plans to visit in the future, will be equally charmed as well." --David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris "[A] quirky, personal, independent view of the city, its history and its people"--Mavis Gallant "Gives fresh poetic insight into the city... a voyage into 'the bends and recesses, the jagged edges, the secret interiors' [of Paris]."-- DeparturesFrom the Trade Paperback edition.Thailand Confidential
Par Jerry Hopkins. 2005
Writer Jerry Hopkins came to Thailand for a visit in the 1980s, and ended up a permanent resident with a…
temporary visa--a big, white farang haunting the bars and back alleys of Bangkok. His essays explore the mystery and mayhem of "The Land of Smiles" to hilarious--and sometimes disturbing--effect. Travel with him to a place where whisky is rum, water buffaloes are gay, insects are dinner, dildos are lucky charms, and your wildest adolescent fantasies can come true (for a nominal fee)."After over a decade in the country, Hopkins knows and loves his subject dearly--that much is obvious--and his vivid portrait projects that love from every page."--Jann Wenner, editor and founder of Rolling Stone MagazineThat's Not English
Par Lynne Truss, Erin Moore. 2015
An expat's witty and insightful exploration of English and American cultural differences through the lens of language that will leave…
readers gobsmackedIn That's Not English, the seemingly superficial differences between British and American English open the door to a deeper exploration of a historic and fascinating cultural divide. In each of the thirty chapters, Erin Moore explains a different word we use that says more about us than we think. For example, "Quite" exposes the tension between English reserve and American enthusiasm; in "Moreish," she addresses our snacking habits. In "Partner," she examines marriage equality; in "Pull," the theme is dating and sex; "Cheers" is about drinking; and "Knackered" covers how we raise our kids. The result is a cultural history in miniature and an expatriate's survival guide. American by birth, Moore is a former book editor who specialized in spotting British books--including Eats, Shoots & Leaves--for the US market. She's spent the last seven years living in England with her Anglo American husband and a small daughter with an English accent. That's Not English is the perfect companion for modern Anglophiles and the ten million British and American travelers who visit one another's countries each year.A Woman in the Polar Night
Par Christiane Ritter. 2010
In this extraordinary adventure, a reluctant visitor to the Arctic thrives in the awesome and unforgiving landscape.In 1933, Christiane Ritter,…
a painter from Austria, travelled to Spitsbergen, an Arctic island north of Norway, to be with her husband. He had been taking part in a scientific expedition and stayed on to hunt and fish. "Leave everything as it is and follow me to the Arctic," he wrote to his wife; but for Christiane, "as for all central Europeans, the Arctic was just another word for freezing and forsaken solitude. I did not follow at once." Eventually she gave in, lured by his compelling stories about the remarkable wildlife and alluring light shows. She says: "They told of journeys by water and over ice, of the animals and the fascination of the wilderness, of the strange light over the landscape, of the strange illumination of one's own self in the remoteness of the polar night. In his descriptions there was practically never any mention of cold or darkness, of storms or hardships."Europe from a Backpack
Par Mark Pearson, Martin Westerman. 2004
If you've ever wanted to backpack in Europe... If you want to relive your adventures... If you love good travel…
writing... Better than guidebooks, these first-person accounts paint vivid pictures of a traveler's experience in Europe. Like familiar music and favorite scents, they'll awaken a taste for adventure in those who have yet to travel, and bring back memories for those who have. Romance, surprise, discovery and wisdom all bubble through these authors' inviting pieces. At last, a collection of first-person eye-witness adventures that will keep you laughing, wondering, and walking with the well-traveled story tellers who take you inside Europe's must-see places. Billy Anderson stares down death at the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Lisa Cordeiro takes a "will work for food" approach to travel as a waitress at a Paris restaurant. And Mike Riley's desperate search for underwear in a Portuguese market... well, that's another story.A Voyage to the Island of the Articoles
Par Andre Maurois. 2012
"Dangerous, charming, and funny, this elegant miniature rediscovery will delight even brilliant minds."-Simon Van BooyAndré Maurois' novella, published in the…
same year as Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa, is about a couple who become shipwrecked on an uncharted South Seas Island and discover a race of literary zealots for whom every subject and feeling needs to be expressed as a form of literary art. As explained by Alberto Manguel, "An Articole will publish not only his Intimate Journal, but also his Journal of My Intimate Journal; and his wife will publish My Husband's Journal of His Intimate Journal."Square Sun Square Moon: A Collection of Sweet Sour Essays
Par Paul Reps. 1967
This collection of Zen essays by the author of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones offers an enlightening perspective on a variety…
of topics.From the introduction:Not all of us can be exuberant travelers though we all dream of faraway places. Not all of us can sec the subliminal with a penetrating eye, though many of us yearn to shake off the philistine shells that restrict our lives to the prosaic.Here, then, is your chance! In the privacy of your den, on the commode, in the library wherever you find reading most pleasurable reps invites you t o share his experiences vicariously. Within these pages, if you synchronize properly, you may find yourself in Tahiti where you "breathe this flowered air, drink the cascading water, cat the fruits and just sleep" until "you too become sweet."Any Deadly Thing
Par Roy Kesey. 2013
Following the critical success of his debut collection, All Over, and of his debut novel, Pacazo, Roy Kesey now brings…
us a new gathering of short stories, Any Deadly Thing. These stories first appeared in magazines including McSweeney's, Subtropics, Ninth Letter and American Short Fiction, and have been widely anthologized; among them are winners of a Pushcart Prize special mention, an Honorable Mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Missouri Review's Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize in Fiction. With story locales ranging across the Americas to Europe and Asia, Kesey once again makes the full strange world his stage. "Perfect, masterful portraits of an international cross-section of wise, broken souls--hopeful, brutal, funny as hell, and heart-crushing, every last one." -Elizabeth Crane, author of We Only Know So Much "Roy Kesey is one of my favorite contemporary writers, and Any Deadly Thing is another triumph. These stories, reminiscent of William Gass in the remarkable way they combine a virtuoso playfulness and wit with an atmosphere of grimness and grief and heartbreak, range the world over for their brilliantly realized locales, but they share a deeper setting in what Gass calls 'the only holiness we have,' human consciousness. Kesey demonstrates once again that he is a spectacularly deft and empathetic priest of that creed, which is the only one for me." -Michael Griffith, author of TrophyVillage Japan
Par Malcolm Ritchie. 1999
In this elegiac account that is part travelogue, part memoir, British poet and writer Malcolm Ritchie recounts his and his…
wife's unforgettable three-year-sojourn in Sora, a remote farming and fishing village on the Japan Sea coast. Ritchie weaves together anecdotes, conversations, lyrical verses, and unforgettable character studies to vividly and hauntingly evoke the rhythms of life in a traditional rural Japanese community. Underlying this portrait is the author's growing awareness that the aged inhabitants of Sora and the surrounding villages are the custodians of a fragile, barely surviving, way of life, one that is still informed by the cadences of the natural world, under the tutelage of its ancient gods. The book is a paean to a once noble culture all but effaced by Western industrial/technological materialism-the "cultural carcinogens" of the West-which Asian countries such as Japan have all too willingly embraced. Always profound and moving, Village Japan pays lyrical homage to a side of Japan rarely experienced or glimpsed by foreigners today.