Pico Iyer

With contributions by: William Boyd, Candice Carty-Williams, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Robert Macfarlane, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina Nayeri, Chigozie Obioma, Michael Ondaatje, David Pilling, Max Porter, Philip Pullman, Alice Pung, Jancis Robinson, S.F.Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood and Markus Zusak'This story, like so many stories, begins with a gift. The gift, like so many gifts, was a book...' So begins the essay by Robert Macfarlane that inspired this collection. In this cornucopia of an anthology, you will find essays by some of the world's most beloved novelists, nonfiction writers, essayists and poets. 'You will see books taking flight in flocks, migrating around the world, landing in people's hearts and changing them for a day or a year or a lifetime. 'You will see books sparking wonder or anger; throwing open windows into other languages, other cultures, other minds; causing people to fall in love or to fight for what is right. 'And more than anything, over and over again, you will see books and words being given, received and read - and in turn prompting further generosity.' Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of global literacy non-profit, Room to Read, The Gifts of Reading forms inspiring, unforgettable, irresistible proof of the power and necessity of books and reading.Inspired by Robert Macfarlane Curated by Jennie Orchard

From bestselling cartoonist C. C. Tsai, a delightfully illustrated version of the classic work of Daoist philosophyC. C. Tsai is one of Asia's most popular cartoonists, and his editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. Here, he works his magic again with a delightful graphic adaptation of the complete text of Laozi's Dao De Jing, the beloved source of Daoist philosophy. Masterfully transforming Laozi's challenging work into entertaining and enlightening episodes, Tsai offers a uniquely fresh, relevant, and accessible version of one of the world's most influential books.After opening with Laozi's biography from the Shi Ji, Tsai turns the stage over to Laozi, who patiently explains his ideas to his earnest students (and us). Laozi describes the spontaneity of natural processes, the paradoxical effects of ethical precepts, the limits of language, the values of simplicity, and, above all else, how to go with the flow. In brief episodes that tantalize and inspire, he takes us into the subtle complexities of human existence. Ultimately, Laozi, a master visionary, guides us to the mountaintop to reveal an expansive view of life.A marvelous edition of a timeless classic, this book also presents Laozi's original Chinese text in sidebars on each page, enriching the book for readers and students of Chinese without distracting from the English-language cartoons. The text is skillfully translated by Brian Bruya, who also provides an illuminating introduction.

Mask presents a striking collection of rare masks steeped in ancient tradition, captured through the lens of one of the world's most celebrated documentary photographers. Concerned by the loss of cultural diversity in our rapidly modernizing world, photographer Chris Rainier traveled the globe documenting the world's disappearing cultures with a focus on indigenous dances and rituals. The result is this mesmerizing photographic collection of rare and ancient masks, collected over twenty years and across six continents. Preserved in hidden locations at the edge of the known world, the masks displayed in this book are hallmarks of little-known and dying cultural and religious traditions from across the globe. Through his stunning photography--at once mysterious and ethereal--Rainier takes us on a continent-spanning survey of the practice of veiling one face with another--from the masks used in scarification rituals in Burkina Faso to B n Buddhist masks long hidden away in a Bhutanese monastery. Accompanying the striking images are a foreword by renowned essayist Pico Iyer and stories recounting Rainier's journeys to the remotest reaches to preserve the memory of these ancient objects of beauty and power and the cultures that produced them. Rainier, a National Geographic explorer and photographer, has dedicated his life to preserving cultural heritage. Through his lens, we see an awe-inspiring portrayal of the rich cultural diversity our world still has to offer.

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher*Unexpected stories from unexpected places.Many places can feel like nowhere: a desert, an isolated village, even the middle of a bustling, impersonal city. And then something happens: an adventure, a revelation, an experience that changes the whole landscape. The discovery that every place is the centre of the world to somebody and has its own riches and wonders. The authors of these 30 real-life tales find passion, surprise and illumination in the middle of Borneo or Beijing, in a Mayan mountain village, along a timeworn trail in Tuscany, on an isolated South Pacific island, or under a desert moon in Mali.These richly varied stories all celebrate and illuminate one simple truth: if we embark on each adventure with an open heart and an open mind, travel will take us places we never planned to go, and enrich and enlighten us in ways we never otherwise would have known.Featuring stories by: Anthony Sattin, Danny Wallace, Jason Elliot, Pam Houston, Ralph Potts, Pico Iyer, Tim Cahill, Simon WinchesterAbout Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places where they travel.TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards 2012 and 2013 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) *#1 in the world market share - source: Nielsen Bookscan. Australia, UK and USA. March 2012-January 2013

From the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm to be found in quiet retreatOver the past three decades, Pico Iyer has made more than a hundred journeys to a small hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He's not a Christian, nor a member of any religious group, and yet his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence.In Learning from Silence, Iyer travels deep into inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery, even as his life is going through constant change: houses burn, a parent dies, a daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other non-monastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness. Most profoundly, he shows how solitude can be a training in community and companionship.In so doing, he offers a unique outsider's view of monastic life - and of a group of selfless souls who have dedicated their days to ensuring there's a space for quiet and recollection that's open to us all.Radiant, intimate and gripping, Learning from Silence offers ageless counsel about the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live, how to love and, ultimately, how to die.

Passion, Art, and Identity: A Multicultural Memoir of Finding One's Place in the WorldIn this engaging memoir, Japanese art historian and curator Meher McArthur transports you into the extraordinary world of Japanese art — from ceramics, swords, prints and textiles to Buddhist art, folk painting, contemporary art and animation. One artwork and one language lesson at a time, we follow McArthur as she unspools a compelling narrative of curiosity and inspiration, personal and cultural growth, with heartbreak and resilience. This book will provide avid art lovers new ways of seeing and understanding the power of art, not only to inspire but to illuminate one's place in the world.The author presents her art memoir in three parts:Discovering and LearningGrowing up in a small Scottish town as a multiracial child, McArthur often felt culturally out of place. Encouraged by her Persian and Scottish parents to embrace a global identity, she studied Japanese at Cambridge, eventually moving to Japan—where she fell in love with its language, temples, ceramics, and art traditions. Just as she found her passion, family upheaval challenged her sense of direction. Becoming a CuratorWith a master's degree in Japanese art, McArthur forged a path as a museum curator in California, organizing exhibitions on folk art, sake, ceramics, and Buddhist calligraphy—while learning the rhythms of museum life and starting a family. Curating Beyond the MuseumStepping away from the museum world, she became an independent curator, exploring new creative territory through origami, anime, and contemporary art—discovering fresh ways to connect with audiences and with herself. Spanning continents and cultures, this is both an inspiring art memoir and a resonant reflection on cultural belonging. McArthur's story offers a warm, generous vision of how art can illuminate identity and bridge difference—inviting readers to fall in love with Japanese art and culture, and to embrace the idea that there's no single way to belong in the world.

The first ever survey of the evolution of the Japanese garden, dating from 1900 to the present day. A major survey and the first book of its kind, The Modern Japanese Garden is set to become the definitive book on the subject. Featuring gardens from Tokyo, Kyoto and Fujisawa to Osaka, Okayama, Fukuoka and beyond, this impressive overview includes major analysis of key works of interest through detailed garden profiles; insights into some of the most renowned Japanese garden designers across history; and a thoughtful exploration of the essential themes and developments in Japanese garden design. The Modern Japanese Garden investigates the relationship between nature and modernity. Roughly divided between pre- and post-1945 Japanese garden design, it examines post-war shifts in attitudes towards the contemporary garden as they move from status symbols and expressions of influence to spaces of healing and mediation. A short history of the Japanese garden, from pre-Shinto stone arrangements to the last years of the nineteenth century, sits alongside analysis of the contemporary gardens of Japan’s corporate buildings, museums, hotels and public spaces. Garden profiles offer a comprehensive overview of the most iconic and influential gardens in Japan, and include a mix of landscape- and smaller-scale gardens, many just recently completed. Interspersed throughout are short interludes, covering everything from the ancient garden of Ryoan-ji in Kyoto to the aesthetic lexicon of Japanese garden design, while essays from a number of high-profile contributors meditate on particular themes. Intended for both professional and general readers with an interest in landscape design and Japan's contemporary lifestyle, this is the definitive sourcebook on the subject.

Explore singular destinations with The Leading Hotels of the World in this celebration of exceptional hospitality, extraordinary cultural heritage, and unforgettable travel locales Embark on a stunning visual journey through The Leading Hotels of the World, a collection of the world’s most exclusive independent luxury hotels, which consistently dominates prestigious awards, securing top positions in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards and Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. Richly illustrated and expertly edited, this exquisite volume – the second in The Leading Hotels of the World multi-volume series – celebrates legendary hospitality through lasting traditions and impeccable artistry. Culture features a curated selection of more than 80 hotels from LHW’s 400-plus-member collection across 80 countries. From subtle architectural interventions at a 200-plus-year-old estate in Portugal’s Alentejo countryside to an intricately layered Venetian palazzo that embodies Italian craftsmanship, discover how local touches, age-old rituals, and international art serve exceptional hospitality. Also included are six in-depth feature stories capturing the essence of Capella Ubud, Bali; De L’Europe Amsterdam; Le Sirenuse in Positano, Italy; Royal Mansour Marrakech; São Lourenço do Barrocal in Monsaraz, Portugal; and Violino d’Oro in Venice, Italy. Edited and produced by Spencer Bailey and the New York–based editorial studio of The Slowdown, the book features a foreword by acclaimed travel writer and author Pico Iyer and contributions from leading art, culture, and travel writers and journalists such as Maura Egan, Laura Itzkowitz, Lee Marshall, Christina Ohly Evans, Sarah Miller, Cynthia Rosenfeld, Jad Salfiti, and John Wogan. Interviews with and expert travel tips from dozens of notable cultural figures – Sarah Arison, Andy Baraghani, Solange Azagury-Partridge, Tom Dixon, Casey Fremont, Stephen Fry, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Deborah Needleman, and Marlies Verhoeven among them – are also found in its pages, as well as original images by acclaimed photographers including Mark Borthwick and Stefan Giftthaler. A beautiful addition to this quintessential travel series, Culture is presented in a deep Moroccan-blue silken case with an eye-catching pattern inspired by Moorish-style screens. Silver foil details, painted edges, and complementary ribbons add to the book’s extraordinary package, which truly embodies the elevated, highly refined level of luxury of LHW.

Now in paperback Accessible and adaptable Japanese Buddhist rituals to infuse your life with purpose, healing, and gratitude when you need it most. How do we make and sustain meaning amidst the messy conditions of daily life? Personalized rituals can help us blossom like lotuses right in the mud of the present. On a pilgrimage she began after her mother's death, author Paula Arai encountered numerous Japanese Buddhists who taught her the remarkable power of ritual to heal--practices you can adapt to your own cultural and personal circumstances. Applying principles of Zen practice, she offers stories and insights that illuminate how to nourish and reap a healing bounty of connection, joy, and compassion. Examples include how to: Relate to a late loved one as a "personal Buddha" who supports you Create a home altar to serve as a safe space to be vulnerable, face intense emotions, and experience a depth of warm gratitude that melts fear and anger Engage in daily tasks with attentiveness, intention, and creativity such that they become opportunities for body-mind integration Develop family rituals to celebrate relationship and mark transition Approach illness and grief with a purposeful sense of connection to life-and-death in its wholeness Like Marie Kondo's Shinto principles for decluttering, Paula Arai uses rituals influenced by Japanese Zen for personal and relational nourishment and spiritual healing.

'Beautiful . . . Iyer masterfully and lyrically shows us how we may need to find a new home - one far more solemn, communal and silent than our present one - in order to return properly to ourselves' Alain de Botton'I trust that reading this book may help many to lead lives of greater compassion and deeper peace of mind' His Holiness the Dalai Lama'One of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time' Maria Popova'An exquisite call to silence and the myriad connections it kindles' Katherine May'I urge everyone to read Pico Iyer's beautifully written, meditative book Learning from Silence. As I turned to this I felt my blood pressure reducing, and I began to read in a different, slower and more concentrated way' Jane Shaw, Financial TimesFrom the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm to be found in quiet retreatOver the past three decades, Pico Iyer has made more than a hundred journeys to a small hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He's not a Christian, nor a member of any religious group, and yet his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence.In Learning from Silence, Iyer travels deep into inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery, even as his life is going through constant change: houses burn, a parent dies, a daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other non-monastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness. Most profoundly, he shows how solitude can be a training in community and companionship.In so doing, he offers a unique outsider's view of monastic life - and of a group of selfless souls who have dedicated their days to ensuring there's a space for quiet and recollection that's open to us all.Radiant, intimate and gripping, Learning from Silence offers ageless counsel about the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live, how to love and, ultimately, how to die.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Reading Aflame may help many to lead lives of greater compassion and deeper peace of mind." --His Holiness the Dalai Lama From the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm to be found in quiet retreat Pico Iyer has made more than one hundred retreats over the past three decades to a small Benedictine hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He's not a Christian--or a member of any religious group--but his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence. That silence reminds him of what is essential and awakens a joy that nothing can efface. It's not just freedom from distraction and noise and rush: it's a reminder of some deeper truths he misplaced along the way. In Aflame, Iyer connects with inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery, even as his life is going through constant change: a house burns down, a parent dies, a daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other nonmonastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness. And most profoundly, he shows how solitude can be a training in community and companionship. In so doing, he offers a unique outsider's view of monastic life--and of a group of selfless souls who have dedicated their days to ensuring there's a space for quiet and recollection that's open to us all. Radiant, intimate, and gripping, Aflame offers ageless counsel about the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live, how to love, and, ultimately, how to die.

In the 1970s many thousands of young persons travelled from Europe to Asia on the Hippie Trail in search of adventure, spiritual enlightenment, and personal discovery. Their sprawling, free-wheeling escapades changed their lives and the places they visited. While the overland route between Amsterdam and Kathmandu no longer exists, its stopovers in India — Pushkar, Rishikesh, Hampi, Goa, and the Pushkar Valley — continue to attract counterculture travelers from throughout the world. And just as the visitors have absorbed experiences and material culture, even spiritual wisdom, from their Indian hosts, so, too, have local residents learned a thing or two from their hippie guests. During the past half century, an intense cultural intermingling has taken place in these distant locales, where lifeways, architectures, and philosophies are exchanged as freely as costumes, music, and hairstyles. This photographic book, the first of its kind, vividly captures the beguiling love affair between East and West in its portrayal of modern-day India and the free-spirited people who travel or reside there — Westerners and Indians, alike. Acclaimed essayist and travel writer Pico Iyer wrote the book foreword entitled “The Long Strange Trip.”

'Nothing less than a guided tour of the human soul ... A masterpiece' Elizabeth Gilbert'A work of spiritual evolution [and] inner journeys told through extraordinary exteriors' Washington PostOne of our most perceptive travel writers embarks on an exploration of the world's holiest places and where we might find paradise on Earth.It’s so easy, I thought, to place Paradise in the past or the future – anywhere but here.After half a century of travel, Pico Iyer asks himself what kind of paradise can ever be found in a world of unceasing conflict. In a spectacular journey, both inward and outward, he roams the globe from Jerusalem to Belfast to North Korea, from crowded mosques in Iran to a holy mountain in Japan. By the end, he has upended any of our expectations and dared to suggest that we can find paradise right in the heart of our angry and confused world.

Working as a feature writer in 1976, Thomas Swick falls in love with a visiting Polish student named Haina and soon moves with her to Warsaw. The next decade sees Thomas living in Poland, Greece, and New York. He declines an invitation to be a Polish informer, sees John Paul II embolden the masses on his first trip back to his homeland since becoming pope, witnesses the rise of Solidarity and the imposition of martial law in Poland, and walks with thousands of Poles on the pilgrimage to Czestochowa, an annual religious rite that blossoms into a nine-day protest march. In 1989, he watches Hania vote in her country’s first free elections since pre-war independence. One month later, he lands his dream job as a travel writer.Falling into Place is the personal story of a young man’s discovery of the world and his development as a travel writer. It is also a love story, as he and Hania overcome cultural differences, communist bureaucracy, and unhealthy separations. Intertwined with both is the story of the revolution that altered history. With the world’s attention once again turned to Eastern Europe, and a Cold War reality, this memoir can help Americans better understand both.

Accessible and adaptable Japanese Buddhist rituals to infuse your life with purpose, healing, and gratitude when you need it most. How do we make and sustain meaning amidst the messy conditions of daily life? Personalized rituals can help us blossom like lotuses right in the mud of the present. On a pilgrimage she began after her mother's death, author Paula Arai encountered numerous Japanese Buddhists who taught her the remarkable power of ritual to heal--practices you can adapt to your own cultural and personal circumstances. Applying principles of Zen practice, she offers stories and insights that illuminate how to nourish and reap a healing bounty of connection, joy, and compassion. Examples include how to: Relate to a late loved one as a "personal Buddha" who supports you Create a home altar to serve as a safe space to be vulnerable, face intense emotions, and experience a depth of warm gratitude that melts fear and anger Engage in daily tasks with attentiveness, intention, and creativity such that they become opportunities for body-mind integration Develop family rituals to celebrate relationship and mark transition Approach illness and grief with a purposeful sense of connection to life-and-death in its wholeness Like Marie Kondo's Shinto principles for decluttering, Paula Arai uses rituals influenced by Japanese Zen for personal and relation nourishment and spiritual healing.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, TIME MAGAZINE & MORE "Masterful . . . A book of inner journeys told through extraordinary exteriors . . . One of his very best." --Washington Post "Dazzling." --Time Magazine, Best Books of 2023 From "one of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time" (Brain Pickings): a journey through competing ideas of paradise to see how we can live more peacefully in an ever more divided and distracted world.Paradise: that elusive place where the anxieties, struggles, and burdens of life fall away. Most of us dream of it, but each of us has very different ideas about where it is to be found. For some it can be enjoyed only after death; for others, it's in our midst--or just across the ocean--if only we can find eyes to see it. Traveling from Iran to North Korea, from the Dalai Lama's Himalayas to the ghostly temples of Japan, Pico Iyer brings together a lifetime of explorations to upend our ideas of utopia and ask how we might find peace in the midst of difficulty and suffering. Does religion lead us back to Eden or only into constant contention? Why do so many seeming paradises turn into warzones? And does paradise exist only in the afterworld - or can it be found in the here and now? For almost fifty years Iyer has been roaming the world, mixing a global soul's delight in observing cultures with a pilgrim's readiness to be transformed. In this culminating work, he brings together the outer world and the inner to offer us a surprising, original, often beautiful exploration of how we might come upon paradise in the midst of our very real lives.