Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions [Hardcover]

Pico Iyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

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 100,000 different lunches to 100,000 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.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

From Library Journal

Iyer (Falling off the Map, LJ 5/1/93) again casts a wide net as he brings together a series of lyrical essays on travels to faraway lands. The different directions alluded to in his subtitle include isolated and forlorn Ethiopia; Lhasa, China; and Tibet and its omnipresent Potala Palace with its 10,000 chapels. He encounters people such as Norman Lewis and the 14th Dalai Lama, called a "down-to-earth kind of guy." Iyer writes about books such as Paul Theroux's The Happy Isles of Oceania and Ann Beattie's The Burning House and a number of titles by non-Western authors. Some of the themes in which Iyer delves are the growth of American pop culture worldwide and subtleties of language and numbers. Iyer's unusual choices and beautiful writing earn his work a special niche among first-person travel memoirs. Recommended for large public and academic libraries or where Iyer's works are popular.?David Schau, Kanawha Cty. P.L., Charleston, W. Va.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 314 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679454322
• ISBN-13: 978-0679454328
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,280,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imagine a pomegranate--juicy, pithy, tart and satisfying., November 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions (Paperback)

After hearing Pico Iyer speak I began devouring TROPICAL CLASSICAL only to discover it's not an easy read. There are many jewels of interest and pleasure in these essays, but I delighted most in Iyer's use of simple-looking words I don't quite know. The dictionary always revealed a definition so pure any other word would have missed the point. Like Barry Lopez, Iyer exposes his views of the world in rich detail and focus. He's so full of experience none of these pieces are throwaway blurbs, yet he ends celebrating silence.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not what we might expect, January 6, 2000

By 

Doug Benning (Numazu Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions (Paperback)

I like Pico Iyer enough to say I have read all his books. This is by far the worst. I struggled to finish it. Filled with book reviews and essays on things like the use of commas it is not what I have come to expect from him. The first 50 pages were ok, but after that it went down hill. I was in Hokkaido Japan over Xmas with this book, hoping to read it near the fire at night. I resorted to my only alternative -- reading Japanese Manga in Japanese (which I can barely read) rather than face this book again. Buy another selection by Pico, not this one.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique abilty to bring out what is truly fascinating, August 23, 1998

By 

G. Janow [e-mail] (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions (Hardcover)

A "classic" look at Iyers work and his uncanny abiltity to seek out the fascinating. He is a travelers traveler, and makes proper leaps to the heart of the matter. He writes to the soul of those who travel, those who understand the paradoxical nature of the world today. With a fluid style and often giddy manor, i am often forced to test my own conclusions and my evaluations of places and spaces.