Tropical Classical

In Tropical Classical the author of Video Nights in Katmandu and The Lady and the Monk visits a holy city in Ethiopia where hooded worshippers practice a Christianity that has remained unchanged since the Middle Ages. He follows the bewilderingly complex route of Bombay's dabbawallahs who each day ferry 100000 different lunches to 100000 different workers. Iyer chats with the Dalai Lama and assesses the books of Salman Rushdie and Cormac McCarthy. And he brings his perceptive eye and unflappable wit to bear on the postmodern vogues for literary puffery sexual gamesmanship and frequent-flier miles. Glittering with aphorisms overflowing with insight and often hilarious Tropical Classical represents some of Iyer's finest work.As a respected and beloved journalist and travel writer Pico Iyer has earned a reputation and a loyal following and Tropical Classical is a good indication why. This best of collection of essays book reviews and articles is segmented into chapters entitled Places People Books Themes and Squibs covering topics as varied as Paddington Bear the numeral 9 Tibet and the accumulation of frequent-flyer miles. Iyer is particularly gifted in conveying incongruous and anachronistic events cleverly sharing his fascination with the bizarre--and often hilarious--cultural hybrids born when worlds collide. By capturing the essence of such oddities he gently pulls the reader closer to obscure locales and in the process alters the way we look at familiar surroundings. Similarly his coverage of other writers brings an appreciation of the subject as much as the art of writing itself.