Reviews and Comments

recommended by Three Percent Podcast

Feeding the Hong Kong/Asia fantasy.

The auspicious and magnificently crafted literary debut of the one and only #PicoIyer

While I think his more contemporary works are "better," the core Page Pico is still present even back in 1988.

An easy to read and deeply fascinating perspective on Korean culture and society from the perspective of an American.

Especially memorable to me is the chapter about the ritual Kut (also romanized gut or goot). This helped prepare me (in hindsight) for a similar ceremony in the movie Việt and Nam by Trương Minh Quý.

This "translation" presumes cultural knowledge of the setting. If you don't understand the implications of being Vietnamese in Chinatown in France, some of the charm will surely be lost on the reader.

Published as a single breathless 200 page paragraph, I am left with a whole new appreciation for organization in literature.

This work is a form of Impressionism, perhaps.

To paraphrase a harsh Goodreads review, 'I only like being in an author's head when the author thinks interesting thoughts.'

But maybe some day this will become my favorite book, which sometimes happens when I don't like something at first.

This is one of Pico Iyer's older and often mentioned works.

I think I heard about this on Korea Deconstructed podcast.

Bret Easton Ellis recommended this book as the true Great American Novel.

I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but Pico Iyer's thoughtful prose on the full spectrum of life, creativity, the seasons, Japan, Zen, and Table Tennis, resonates deeply with me.

I look forward to returning to this unusual mix of memoir and philosophy.