The Half Known Life

Reviews

Praise for The Half Known Life:
 
“Pico Iyer has done the impossible with this book. . . This is a singular offering of magnetic story, deep thinking, truth telling, and spiritual refreshment for our tumultuous young century.” —New York Times bestselling author Krista Tippett

“In elegant and ecstatic prose, Pico Iyer uncovers our wonderful capacity for hope, wearing his erudition so lightly. I was revitalized by this book.” —New York Times bestselling author Katherine May
 
“To step into The Half Known Life feels both a privilege and a necessity. . . Iyer is more than a guide or a compatriot in an unfamiliar land: in the inward journey to lucidity he is a companion of our own searching minds.” —PEN Award winner Yiyun Li
 
“In this brilliantly told Buddhist parable, Pico Iyer takes the reader from London to Santa Barbara, Jerusalem to Sri Lanka, Japan's Bridge of Heaven to Varanasi, exploring the insatiable human longing for Paradise while acutely observing—with irony, wit, and empathy—the paradoxes inherent in actual experience.” —New York Times bestselling author Dr. Elaine Pagels
 
“Nothing less than a guided tour of the human soul. Filled with hope, wisdom, and extraordinary tenderness, this is a book not only for the ages, but for our very specific, very troubled age. A masterpiece.”  —New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert
 
“This book combines the wisdom of a lifelong traveler with the insights of a dazzling range of spiritual traditions, sparking our enthusiasm for more adventures: both around the world and inside the soul.” —Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser
 
“One of his very best… A work of spiritual evolution built around vivid, discernible images of real places by a master of description… A masterful merging of Iyer’s past and current concerns, a book of inner journeys told through extraordinary exteriors.” —Washington Post

“Reading Mr. Iyer’s book in the depth of winter, in a troubled world, it’s heartening to think that paradise—or at least a glimpse of it—might be available from where we sit.” –Wall Street Journal

“From one of the most perceptive writers of our times, this one brings forth a lifetime of explorations to upend our ideas of utopia and ask how we might find peace in the midst of difficulty and suffering. Could there be anything better to pick at the start of the year?” –Harper’s Bazaar
 
“Mesmerizing… In Iyer's riveting anecdotes, a sudden intimacy with death brings one closer to glimpses of paradise.” – NPR
“In Iyer’s hands, the search for paradise, the way out of the ego, doubles as an internal journey… This elliptical odyssey, graced with occasional notes of light, finds itself by dwelling in the shadows… His book has the soft ring of a classic Buddhist meditation strategy: In order to understand the emptiness of the ego, one must first find the self as it appears.” –New York Times Book Review

“Everywhere Pico Iyer travels his keen vision allows him to see both ravishing beauty and profound flaws… His wide-ranging quest is a useful reminder that the journey often is more absorbing than any destination… Pico Iyer elegantly recounts some of his exotic travels and reflects on the search for an elusive land of bliss.” —Shelf Awareness Expand reviews