Togog shares stories of his early life, relating dilemmas from his childhood and youth. Growing up in the wake of Dutch colonization, he came into contact with new languages, customs, and economic opportunities that presented him with puzzling and poignant experiences. He tells of his association with Spies and Bonnet and later Mead and Bateson and his role in the creation of a genre of painting for which Bali is now famous. This is a view of Bali from the inside—a vivid, highly personal look at a world where spirits, ancestors, and sorcerers have the power to intervene in one’s life. According to Togog, who narrowly escaped death numerous times, his was indeed a "charmed life."
As an experiment in ethnographic research and writing and a contribution to our knowledge of Balinese art and tradition, Tales from a Charmed Life will be of great interest to historians, art historians, anthropologists, and anyone with a serious interest in Balinese studies.
