American Peace Corps worker Broughton Coburn records his cross-country tour of America during which he was accompanied by eighty-four-year-old Himalayan wisewoman Vishnu Maya, and shares his companion's unique view of our country and her spiritual insights. Reprint. Tour.
Aama in America: A Pilgrimage of the Heart
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Account of a cross-country American journey the author undertook with an 84-year-old Himalayan woman he befriended while working in Nepal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Publisher
The alternately rollicking and profound account of an eighty-four-year-old Himalayan woman's first journen across America--and of the insights she offered her American companions into their country and themselves. Fifteen years after he first met Aama, Broughton Coburn returned to her remote village with his future wife, Didi, and an invitation for Aama to join them on a trip to America. At eighty-four, Aama believed she had become a burden to her grandchildren and therefore welcomed the chance to visit her "adopted son's" country. For Coburn, this was a way to introduce Aama to relatives and friends back home; but for Aama the trip represented something more--a pilgrimage that had been prescribed for her by village priests, an opportunity to gain merit by undertaking a strenuous journey during the final stage of her life. Aama in America is a vivid chronicle of what became a twenty-five-state, coast-to-coast adventure. Guided by the perpetual curiosity and deeply spiritual orientation of their ingenious, unpredictable travel coffipanion, Cobum and Didi gradually began to view their country from an entirely new perspective. The more they experienced Aama's unclouded vision of America the more they realized they were not simply traveling twelve thousand miles throughout the United States--they were undertaking an emotional and philosophical odyssey toward a greater understanding of their culture, their country, and themselves. Aama in America is on one level an offbeat American travelogue. But on another it is a profound exploration of beliefs, values, and lost spirituality, a rediscovery of the spiritual that lies beneath the surface of America, and a singular account of the meeting of two widely divergent cultures.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Coburn is an organ grinder and his book...,
By
This review is from: Aama in America: A Pilgrimage of the Heart (Paperback)
Mr. Coburn is an organ grinder and his book is a parade of his toy, Aama, a diminutive woman from a primitive culture who tours with the author and his other woman on a string, his girlfriend, Didi, throughout selected sites in our "advanced civilization" (his terms), America. This travel book had so much potential to become a seering analysis of the destructive forces of our culture that has us caterwauling out of control, but Mr. Coburn seems to be too enraptured with himself and the esteem that he seems to gather while traveling with an entourage of two very different women. Coburn introduces Aama to air travel, to Disneyland, to the forests and farmlands of America. The octagenarian woman from Nepal responds to these American landmarks with childlike humor and dismay and always with cute simplicity. When Aama speaks with criticism about Americans, Mr. Coburn, et. al., chuckle and chortle and do not take the primitive woman seriously--of course, until it is too late and she is no longer here. Further, Mr. Coburn relates a sub-story in his book, relating how difficult it is for him to commit to any lasting relationship to his girlfriend and travel partner, Didi. He keeps her at bay--no, worse, he abandons her for a month-long fling in Seattle, only to wind up desolate and destitute and remorseful. This book seems to be a record of his see-saw emotions: I want to have a commited relationship with her v. I think that there is someone else that just might be better for me. It is so tasteless that in his postscript to the book, he relates his "score!" by stating that he finally had a child with his girlfriend....but nothing else. Sigh. I was hoping that this book might be a probing analysis of just how bankrupt we have become in these technologically advanced times. But the author seemed more concerned about what the elder visionary meant to his own status--How typically American!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a delightful read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Aama in America: A Pilgrimage of the Heart (Paperback)
I found this book to be absolutely delightful! Seeing America through Aama's eyes was rather refreshing - how right she was about so many things. We Americans are not as reverent to our Creator as we should be, nor do we give Him thanks for all He has given us. And how refreshing to see a human being enjoy things with utter and thankful delight, without reserve, cynicism or skepticism! Besides, the book was just plain funny. Aama's thoughts and interpretations of the sights and events she experiences in America are hilarious and heart warming. I found myself wanting to hug her tight and talk to her so I could see life the way she does and learn from her. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I don't think the author belittles Aama at all. He is quite honest about the times when he knows he didn't appreciate her like he should of - he admits he was wrong at times. In the end, he realizes he has loved her with his whole heart and he is grateful for having known her. I will admit, however, that at times, I was a little concerned about exactly where his head was when it came to his relationship with Didi. I trust that they are still together and enjoying living their lives together. A good, fun, light-hearted read that makes you quietly think about the more important things of life!!!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Take a break from the fast lane!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Aama in America: A Pilgrimage of the Heart (Paperback)
It's the kind of book you think about weeks after having read it. It is inspiring and makes you stop to realize that there is so much more to life than the hustle of trying to keep afloat. It is funny and at times sad. I truely enjoyed it!
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