Pico Iyer is the author of six works of nonfiction and two novels. He has covered the Tibetan question for Time, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications for more than twenty years.
"A trenchant, impassioned look at a singular life"
-The New York Times Book Review "[An] elegant and intensely
personal book... The Open Road intermittently showcases Iyer's
distinctive strength, his vivid travel writing.... The Dalai Lama,
The Open Road acknowledges, doesn't have all the answers; 'it's the
questions he puts into play that invigorate.' One could say the
same about Pico Iyer's marvelous little book."
-The Washington Post "The Open Road, Pico Iyer's beautifully
written, up-close meditation about [the Dalai Lama] - a superb
portrait of a celebrated figure whom the master journalist and his
family have known personally for 30 years - arrives at a perfect
time. As the International Campaign for Tibet tries to get news out
about what's happening in Tibet despite severe Chinese censorship -
some unofficial reports speak of Lhasa in flames, with far more
killing than official Chinese media acknowledge - The Open Road
provides context for the tragic events of this month and
illuminates how a singular personality born to a highly ritualized
leadership role has evolved over time...We're in the hands of a
writer who completely understands his subject."
-The Philadelphia Inquirer "The bracing virtue of Iyer's thoughtful
essay is that it allows us to imagine the Dalai Lama as something
of an intellectual and spiritual adventurer, exploring fresh
sources of individual identity and belonging in the newly united
world."
-Pankaj Mishra, The New Yorker "[Iyer has] an access and insight
into the Dalai Lama that lifts his writing above the clichés that
normally surround him...The Open Road is not a biography but it
probably reveals more about its subject than any formal study."
-The Economist "An incisive analysis of the modern relevance of
Tibetan Buddhism and its leader...Nonfiction of the highest
caliber: fascinating and thorough."
-Kirkus (starred review) "A brilliant pairing of writer and
subject."
-Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A wonderful book. I don't know
when I have seen such a perfect match of a glorious subject and an
author who can do justice to that subject."
--Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions "Pico Iyer's
exceptionally intimate portrait of the Dalai Lama takes us beyond
global celebrity image and into a true private audience with a
leader of tremendous complexity. Without ever losing compassion or
respect for his subject, Iyer (like a good Buddhist, actually)
peels away layer after layer of illusion, revealing critical truths
about this man at every possible level. In so doing, the author
makes an important case -- namely, that the world doesn't merely
need larger-than-life humanitarian idols; the world needs
larger-than-life humanitarian idols whom we can also recognize as
being real people, whose limitations, doubts and personal struggles
reflect our fragile humanity right back upon us."
-Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love "Pico Iyer delights,
weaving with scintillating intelligence and evident fondness a
spell-binding tale of the 14th Dalai Lama's uncanny power on the
world stage. The Open Road intertwines an insider's access to
telling detail with a well-seasoned journalist's skeptical
sensibility. This thoughtful, thought-provoking book will open
readers' eyes. I couldn't put it down."
-Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence "In The Open
Road, Pico Iyer transcends his celebrated excellence as a travel
writer. In an uncommonly thoughtful and eloquent report on the
spiritual reflections and also the complex and demanding political
and practical encounters negotiated every day by the Dalai Lama-an
old friend of his father whom he has known well since early
boyhood, not only on regular sojourns at Dharamsala but as a
companionable observer on His Holiness's tireless world travels on
behalf of simple sanity and peace-Iyer has brought us an invaluable
account and precious gift."
-Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopard "Pico Iyer has taken
on perhaps the hardest subject in the whole world to capture on
paper: the story of a spiritual/political leader whose greatness is
routinely condensed by media accounts into platitudes, and of a
movement for both globalized understanding and the salvation of one
very particular sliver of land. His account of the 14th Dalai Lama
is an undiluted triumph, a book as subtle and moving as any
nonfiction produced in recent decades. The planet and its
possibilities will look different to you by its close."
-Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy
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