This little gem of a book is sub-titled "Adventures in Going Nowhere" which appealed to me when I bought it a few years ago, by which time I had already been going nowhere for two decades (it's something to do with the water we drink here; it's rainwater and comes straight from Heaven).
It cost me $20 to buy this book but you can read it online at www.archive.org
I was first attracted to Pico Iyer through his travel books "Video Night in Kathmandu" and "The Global Soul", and I've just now added two more:
To me at least, the art of stillness combines with the art of reading.
P.S. A day later I received this cute email: "Hello Manfred, (Your book(s) wanted to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?) Holy moly! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over half a million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Dunfermline, Scotland already! I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am? But hey, enough about me, I've been asked to brief you on a few things. We have shipped your order and it should be arriving soon: Sun After Dark: Flights into the Foreign and Man Within My Head". You simply have to love the people at www.betterworldbooks.com, don't you?
