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A Beginner's Guide to Japan

Observations and Provocations

by Pico Iyer ...

“Arguably the greatest living travel writer” (Outside magazine), Pico Iyer has called Japan home for more than three decades. But, as he is the first to admit, the country remains an enigma even to its long-term residents. In A Beginner’s Guide to Japan, Iyer draws on his years of experience—his travels, conversations, readings, and reflections—to craft a playful and profound book of surprising, ... Read more

$12.99 USD

“Arguably the greatest living travel writer” (Outside magazine), Pico Iyer has called Japan home for more than three decades. But, as he is the first to admit, the country remains an enigma even to its long-term residents. In A Beginner’s Guide to Japan, Iyer draws on his years of experience—his travels, conversations, readings, and reflections—to craft a playful and profound book of surprising,
... Read more
The Art of Stillness

Adventures in Going Nowhere

by Pico Iyer ...

Series series TED Books
A follow up to Pico Iyer’s essay “The Joy of Quiet,” The Art of Stillness considers the unexpected adventure of staying put and reveals a counterintuitive truth: The more ways we have to connect, the more we seem desperate to unplug.Why might a lifelong traveler like Pico Iyer, who has journeyed from Easter Island to Ethiopia, Cuba to Kathmandu, think that sitting quietly in a room might be the ... Read more

$7.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

A follow up to Pico Iyer’s essay “The Joy of Quiet,” The Art of Stillness considers the unexpected adventure of staying put and reveals a counterintuitive truth: The more ways we have to connect, the more we seem desperate to unplug.Why might a lifelong traveler like Pico Iyer, who has journeyed from Easter Island to Ethiopia, Cuba to Kathmandu, think that sitting quietly in a room might be the
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Aflame

Learning from Silence

by Pico Iyer ...

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER“Reading Aflame may help many to lead lives of greater compassion and deeper peace of mind.” —His Holiness the Dalai Lama“A perfect read for the noisy and anxious world we live in right now." –NBC Today Show“Slender and splendid.” – The Marginalian, Best Books of 2025From the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm ... Read more

Was $9.99 USD Now $8.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER“Reading Aflame may help many to lead lives of greater compassion and deeper peace of mind.” —His Holiness the Dalai Lama“A perfect read for the noisy and anxious world we live in right now." –NBC Today Show“Slender and splendid.” – The Marginalian, Best Books of 2025From the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
The Lady and the Monk

Four Seasons in Kyoto

by Pico Iyer ...

Series series Vintage Departures
When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today -- not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through ... Read more

$6.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today -- not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Autumn Light

Season of Fire and Farewells

by Pico Iyer ...

In this “exquisite personal blend of philosophy and engagement, inner quiet and worldly life" (Los Angeles Times), an acclaimed author returns to his longtime home in Japan after his father-in-law’s sudden death and picks up the steadying patterns of his everyday rites, reminding us to take nothing for granted.In a country whose calendar is marked with occasions honoring the dead, Pico Iyer comes ... Read more

Was $11.99 USD Now $4.99 USD

In this “exquisite personal blend of philosophy and engagement, inner quiet and worldly life" (Los Angeles Times), an acclaimed author returns to his longtime home in Japan after his father-in-law’s sudden death and picks up the steadying patterns of his everyday rites, reminding us to take nothing for granted.In a country whose calendar is marked with occasions honoring the dead, Pico Iyer comes
... Read more
The Half Known Life

In Search of Paradise

by Pico Iyer ...

**NATIONAL BESTSELLERNAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, TIME MAGAZINE & MORE“Masterful . . . A book of inner journeys told through extraordinary exteriors . . . One of his very best.” —Washington Post“Dazzling.” —Time Magazine, Best Books of 2023From “one of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time” (Brain Pickings): a journey through competing ideas ... Read more

$11.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

**NATIONAL BESTSELLERNAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, TIME MAGAZINE & MORE“Masterful . . . A book of inner journeys told through extraordinary exteriors . . . One of his very best.” —Washington Post“Dazzling.” —Time Magazine, Best Books of 2023From “one of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time” (Brain Pickings): a journey through competing ideas
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Audiobook

The Art of Stillness

Adventures in Going Nowhere

by Pico Iyer ...

Narrated by Pico Iyer ...

Unabridged

1 hour 20 min

A follow up to Pico Iyer’s essay “The Joy of Quiet,” The Art of Stillness considers the unexpected adventure of staying put and reveals a counterintuitive truth: The more ways we have to connect, the more we seem desperate to unplug.Why might a lifelong traveler like Pico Iyer, who has journeyed from Easter Island to Ethiopia, Cuba to Kathmandu, think that sitting quietly in a room might be the ... Read more

$9.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

A follow up to Pico Iyer’s essay “The Joy of Quiet,” The Art of Stillness considers the unexpected adventure of staying put and reveals a counterintuitive truth: The more ways we have to connect, the more we seem desperate to unplug.Why might a lifelong traveler like Pico Iyer, who has journeyed from Easter Island to Ethiopia, Cuba to Kathmandu, think that sitting quietly in a room might be the
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
The Man Within My Head

by Pico Iyer ...

We all carry people inside our heads—actors, leaders, writers, people out of history or fiction, met or unmet, who sometimes seem closer to us than people we know.In The Man Within My Head, Pico Iyer sets out to unravel the mysterious closeness he has always felt with the English writer Graham Greene; he examines Greene’s obsessions, his elusiveness, his penchant for mystery. Iyer follows Greene’s ... Read more

$12.99 USD

We all carry people inside our heads—actors, leaders, writers, people out of history or fiction, met or unmet, who sometimes seem closer to us than people we know.In The Man Within My Head, Pico Iyer sets out to unravel the mysterious closeness he has always felt with the English writer Graham Greene; he examines Greene’s obsessions, his elusiveness, his penchant for mystery. Iyer follows Greene’s
... Read more
Video Night in Kathmandu

And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East

by Pico Iyer ...

Series series Vintage Departures
Mohawk hair-cuts in Bali, yuppies in Hong Kong and Rambo rip-offs in the movie houses of Bombay are just a few of the jarring images that Iyer brings back from the Far East. ... Read more

$9.99 USD

Mohawk hair-cuts in Bali, yuppies in Hong Kong and Rambo rip-offs in the movie houses of Bombay are just a few of the jarring images that Iyer brings back from the Far East.
... Read more
The Door Swings Both Ways

A First Look at China, 1985

by Pico Iyer ...

Series series A Vintage Short
A Vintage Shorts Travel SelectionWelcome to China in 1985, to a nation that has just begun to swing open for the West, and specifically for a young Time magazine journalist named Pico Iyer. From the beloved set of travel essays Video Night in Kathmandu, this is his dispatch.From Beijing to Chengdu to Guangzhou, Iyer crisscrosses the country, making friends, gathering impressions, and always ... Read more

$0.99 USD

A Vintage Shorts Travel SelectionWelcome to China in 1985, to a nation that has just begun to swing open for the West, and specifically for a young Time magazine journalist named Pico Iyer. From the beloved set of travel essays Video Night in Kathmandu, this is his dispatch.From Beijing to Chengdu to Guangzhou, Iyer crisscrosses the country, making friends, gathering impressions, and always
... Read more
Tropical Classical

Essays from Several Directions

by Pico Iyer ...

Series series Vintage Departures
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 ... Read more

$12.99 USD

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
... Read more
Audiobook

The Lady and the Monk

Four Seasons in Kyoto

by Pico Iyer ...

Narrated by Geoffrey Howard ...

Unabridged

10 hours 25 min

When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today—not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through ... Read more

$19.95 USD

Also available as: eBook

When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today—not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through
... Read more

Also available as: eBook

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A Beginner's Guide to Japan

The Art of Stillness

Aflame

The Lady and the Monk

Autumn Light

The Half Known Life

The Art of Stillness

The Man Within My Head

Video Night in Kathmandu

The Door Swings Both Ways

Tropical Classical

The Lady and the Monk

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

Top Series in United States

TED Books

Vintage Departures

Penguin Audio Classics

Vintage Contemporaries

Lonely Planet Travel Literature

The Illustrated Library of Chinese Classics

A Vintage Short

Lonely Planet Travel Literature

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