are we not there yet?
|
|
ISBN 9780982354209
|
Irreverent is a good word to describe this chronicle of a four-month sojourn in North India and the Himalayas undertaken by a group of California college students, teacher and novelist Rosenthal, his poet wife, and their daughter. But it merely hints at the many dimensions of Rosenthal?s roguish and frank travelogue, what with its thorny detail, skepticism, and chutzpah; complex philosophical, political, and spiritual conundrums; acid humor, mystical chaos, and cosmic surrealism. It helps that Rosenthal, hailed everywhere they go as "Cowboy" thanks to his feathered hat, has been immersed in Buddhism for several decades, enabling him to extract lessons in the nature of illusion from every ludicrous, alarming, or gratifying episode within the cacophony and crush of Kolkata, the breathtaking beauty of Bhutan, the impossibilities of Sikkum, and the labyrinthine surprises of Kathmandu. Rosenthal vividly recounts time-warping complications, extreme discomfort and illness, suffocating train rides, terrifying maneuvers on crumbling mountain roads, the ferment of immense markets, bloody border conflicts, terrorism, spontaneous friendship, and glorious vistas. As he shares his affecting adventures swimming in the Ganges and visiting temples, monasteries, and a zoo without animals, Rosenthal contemplates epic suffering and transcendent beauty in a wry and transporting tale of both earthly and metaphysical journeys.
—Donna Seaman, Booklist September 15, 2009
—Donna Seaman, Booklist September 15, 2009
Often, in Kolkata, you feel as if you are in the streets of Rome a century after the Empire fell; people living in the ruins. What was once something is now something else, something with people in it, hanging out their clothes, cooking on braziers heated with cow dung. Sheep are herded through the streets. Hawks dive from the eaves and nest in the alcoves of Anglican cathedrals that house the crumbling graves and memorials of the conquerors, what only a blink ago was part of the world's greatest empire. People camp in the old Christian graveyards, or cows graze there or stand outside shops or on the boulevards amidst ten thousand honking yellow Ambassador cabs. The noise never stops. If there were a moment of silence, Kolkata might collapse and forever disappear.
from "Howrah Station Blues," Are We Not There Yet?
from "Howrah Station Blues," Are We Not There Yet?
Rosenthal takes aim and always hits.
--New York Times Book Review
Rosenthal begs to be read aloud.
--Los Angeles Times
Rosenthal's work is achingly and brutally beautiful.
--Buzz
Roughly philosophical and memorable.
--Publishers Weekly
Smartly rich, observant and vital.
—William Gass
Chuck Rosenthal is bold and brawny, deft and original.
--Boston Globe
One of the great American baroque voices. To read him once is to become an enthusiast.
—Tom Keneally
Chuck Rosenthal writes courageously, lyrically, about everything in the world that matters most.
—Pam Houston
--New York Times Book Review
Rosenthal begs to be read aloud.
--Los Angeles Times
Rosenthal's work is achingly and brutally beautiful.
--Buzz
Roughly philosophical and memorable.
--Publishers Weekly
Smartly rich, observant and vital.
—William Gass
Chuck Rosenthal is bold and brawny, deft and original.
--Boston Globe
One of the great American baroque voices. To read him once is to become an enthusiast.
—Tom Keneally
Chuck Rosenthal writes courageously, lyrically, about everything in the world that matters most.
—Pam Houston
Cover art and logo by GRONK
Copyright 2009-2012 What Books Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2009-2012 What Books Press. All Rights Reserved.
