Everything you need to knowabout Thai literature,from its origins to Thai fiction today.Literary criteria used in the selectionof the 20 best novels of the last century,from The circus of lifeto The white shadow:plots – excerpts – critical assessment.Biographies of their 18 authors,from Arkartdamkeung Rapheephatto Saneh Sangsuk.

**A New York Times Notable BookFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle AwardA personal, lyrical narrative about storytelling and empathy, from the author of Orwell's Roses**Apricots. Her mother's disintegrating memory. An invitation to Iceland. Illness. These are Rebecca Solnit's raw materials, but The Faraway Nearby goes beyond her own life, as she spirals out into the stories she heard and read—from fairy tales to Mary Shelley's

Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani — a vastly experienced Asia correspondent — took what he called “the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn.”Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Geo...

One of the best travel writers now at work in the English language brings back the sights and sounds from a dozen different frontiers. A cryptic encounter in the perfumed darkness of Bali; a tour of a Bolivian prison, conducted by an enterprising inmate; a nightmarish taxi ride across southern Yemen, where the men with guns may be customs inspectors or revolutionaries–these are just three of the stops on Pico Iyer’s latest itinerary.But the true subject of Sun After Dark

In today’s crazily busy world the importance of making time for leisure is more vital than ever. Yet so many of us lack a talent for it. We are working longer hours, consuming more than ever before; technology erodes the work–life balance further; increasingly, people feel that only work gives existence meaning. In a world where time is money, what is the value of walking without purpose, socialising without networking, nesting when we could be on our laptops?Robert Dessaix shows, ...

Mohawk hair-cuts in Bali, yuppies in Hong Kong and Rambo rip-offs in the movie houses of Bombay are just a few of the jarring images that Iyer brings back from the Far East.

The acclaimed author explores the greatest travel writing by literary adventurers from Freya Stark and James Baldwin to Nabokov and Hemmingway.Paul Theroux celebrates fifty years of wandering the globe with this meditative journey through the books that shaped him as a reader and traveler. Part philosophical guide, part miscellany, part reminiscence, The Tao of Travel enumerates "The Contents of Some Travelers' Bags" and exposes "Writers Who Wrote about Pl...

Collins Shorts – insight in an instant.Join David Attenborough on his journey through the cultural history of the birds of paradise, one of the most exquisite and extravagant, colourful and intriguing families of birds. In this short, the world’s best-loved naturalist explains why these charismatic birds dance so beautifully.Collins Shorts are a fresh look at the ebook short, with the emphasis on vibrant design, animated content and expert authors who can provide accessible...

The Pulitzer and Nobel Prize–winning and New York Times –bestselling author's memoir of making a movie in 1960s Japan while mourning the loss of her husband.Pearl S. Buck's children's story, The Big Wave, about two young friends whose lives are transformed when a volcano erupts and a tidal wave engulfs their village, was eventually optioned as a movie. A Bridge for Passing narrates the resulting adventur...

Winner of the Lowell Thomas Award for Best Travel Book, this newly designed collection paints a unique portrait of a complex and captivating land. One contributor lives as a monk for a month, gaining an inside look at monastic life. Another discovers Bangkok’s riverine pleasures, a world away from its car-choked streets. Yet another finds refuge as the houseguest of an isolated tribesman. Through these engaging personal stories, readers witness how Thailand satisfies just about any travele...

Norman Lewis was eighty-three years old when he embarked on a series of three arduous journeys into the most contentious corners of Indonesia: western Sumatra, East Timor and Irian Jaya. Presenting himself as the picture of innocence, he reports only what he observes, using his well honed tools of irony and humour to deliver a devastating assessment of the brutality of the central government in these outlying corners of its empire. Lewis observes the decimation of tropical rainforests in S...

This collection of wide-ranging essays from the New York Times–bestselling travel writer is "a steamer trunk full of delights" ( Chicago Sun-Times).This collection of decidedly opinionated articles, essays, and ruminations, by the author of My Other Life and Kowloon Tong, transports the reader not only to exotic, unexpected places in the world but also into the interior life of the writer himself. Whether it is his time serving in...