false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171998931m/131107.jpg 131107 8 Only in India would the American film <I>Rambo</I> be remade with the title role played by a woman--in a sari, no less! Only in Hong Kong would a man at a cocktail party pick up a woman with the line "What do you think of the dollar?" And only in <I>Video Night in Kathmandu</I> will you find detailed, unsettling portraits of a Far East in flux as experienced by Pico Iyer, a travel writer beyond compare. Tibet, China, India, and Thailand--these are among the objects of Iyer's wanderlust, the subjects of 11 essays chronicling his travels. In India, he explores the lucrative Bombay film business: "The process of turning an American movie into an Indian one was not very difficult ... but it did require a few changes.... the Indian hero had to be domesticated, supplied with a father, a mother, and a clutch of family complications." As one film director told him, " ... for example, Rambo must be given a sister who was raped." In Bangkok he finds the sex trade is well nigh impossible to avoid: " ... by the time a third official government tout approached me with the novel invitation: 'My friend. You no like birdwatching?' I was inclined to suspect that ornithology was not among his interests." <P> Pico Iyer is more than just a travel writer. For four years, he wrote about world affairs for <I>Time</I>, and he brings to these brilliant, comical, and poignant essays his extensive knowledge of politics and culture as well as a journalist's eye for the telling details. <I>Video Night in Kathmandu</I> provides both a stark, unsettling view of modern Asia and an exploration of the ambivalent attitudes Asians hold toward the West. 2954363 1988 Video Night in Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East total:233|5:54|4:97|3:65|2:13|1:4| 233 883 347 26 2 1 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 14:47:14 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 15:21:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 10:00:55 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 12:27:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 true false Sun Nov 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jul 18 20:44:41 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 22 04:45:26 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 12:47:56 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 14:27:06 -0700 2009
This book describes the ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 21:52:10 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 11:24:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Fri Jun 19 10:40:20 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 10:44:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 06:51:25 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 06:51:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 12 19:52:26 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 19:22:21 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 19:24:02 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Mar 05 20:51:51 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 20:54:02 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Thu Aug 20 14:05:40 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 14:06:23 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 09:29:55 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 09:30:45 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 12 07:17:20 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 07:17:46 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 06 13:01:40 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 13:06:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 true false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 21:22:41 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 20:10:42 -0700 2009
Iyer's stories of his travels in Asia range from quite interesting to generalizations from a tourist's point of view. The real downside is that this book dates from the 80's, so it is hard to put much stock in any descriptions holding true today. (Also, as a "younger"...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 13:53:36 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 18:53:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 28 16:50:05 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 28 16:52:48 -0700 2008
And the father of Randy Guss, drummer for Toad the Wet Sprocket, was my English teacher.

Another English teacher wrote the forward for a Sandman collection.

I seem destined to be taught by tangents of fa...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Jun 20 21:34:35 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 21:37:16 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Tue Jun 03 09:28:43 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 20 15:27:03 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1989 Sun Sep 30 08:48:39 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 30 08:52:07 -0700 2007 He writes with insight about the clash between modern pop culture and the traditional cultures of Asia.]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 03 08:03:15 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 05 06:04:57 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=131107