About the Author

Pico Iyer is a British-born essayist and novelist long based in both California and Japan. He is the author of numerous books about crossing cultures, among them Video Night in Kathmandu, The Lady and the Monk, and The Global Soul. An essayist for Time since 1986, he also publishes regularly in Harper's, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and many other publications across the globe.

Reviews

"A bustling paean to the stationary life . . . Iyer's argument is an engaging amalgam of memoir, reportage, and literary essay . . . Iyer uses a fluid blend of argument and anecdote to make a persuasive and eloquent case that contemplating internal landscapes can be just as rich an experience as traveling through external ones. The fact that he has traveled to some of the world's most obscure corners only strengthens his credibility as a defender of stillness."-- "Boston Globe"

"This book isn't a meditation guide or a New-Age tract but rather a celebration of the age-old practice of sitting with no goal in mind and no destination in sight.... Rather than reading it quickly and filing it, readers will likely slow down to meet its pace and might continue carrying it around as a reminder."-- "Kirkus (starred)"

"[A] beautiful little book. . . fills an important niche. . . Iyer wants to make the conscious practice of stillness palatable to everyone."-- "Los Angeles Review of Books"

"[A] cool drink of water, in book form"-- "People"

"[A] wonderful read in its entirety."-- "Brain Pickings"

"A heartfelt manifesto to the benefits of ditching the cellphone and snipping up the frequent flier card, The Art of Stillness is anything but a self-help book or how-to guide for achieving inner peace."-- "Associated Press"

"In lesser hands this tiny volume might be a throwaway of glib, "new age" comfort-speak, but like Henry David Thoreau's equally brief classic on another seemingly mundane exercise -- walking -- Iyer's thoughtful nature leads him to peel back layer upon layer, nodding toward the infinite.... Plunging effortlessly beneath platitudes, this wafer-thin volume reminds us of what might just be the greatest paradox of travel -- after all our road running, after all our flights of fancy to the farthest corners of the globe, after all our touring, our seeking and questing, perhaps, just perhaps, fellow travelers, there really is no place like home."-- "New York Times Book Review"