Most famous as the co-founder of WIRED magazine and the author of numerous bestselling books on technology, Kevin Kelly spent his 20s travelling in 1970s Asia as a photojournalist. His book and online social project Asia Grace showcases the incredible images of Asia he captured more than 30 years ago. This is his first interview discussing what led him to create Asia Grace.
From The Land Of Green Ghosts: Pascal Khoo Thwe
Pascal Khoo Thwe’s autobiography is a classic “truth is stranger than fiction” tale, describing how a dirt poor Burmese mountain boy improbably fell in love with the writings of James Joyce and eventually found himself studying at Cambridge University in England
JG Ballard’s Shanghai
JG Ballard is the author of Empire Of The Sun, a quasi-autobiographical novel about growing up in 1930s Shanghai and then living in an internment camp after the Japanese invaded during World War II. Rick McGrath discovered that Ballard’s childhood home still exists amongst the never-ending reconstruction of Shanghai and recently travelled halfway around the world to see it for himself
Book Review: Tony Wheeler’s Bad Lands: A Tourist On The Axis Of Evil
Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler goes travelling through Iran, Iraq, North Korea and numerous other places of dubious morality to see if they really are irredeemably evil. It’s a fast paced and fascinating take on these otherwise forbidden countries
Land of a Thousand Eyes: The Subtle Pleasures of Everyday Life in Myanmar : Book Review
Peter Olszewski’s memoir of a year spent living in Myanmar is a fascinating, intimate personal account of day to day life in this politically tormented country
Ten Tips For Wandering Women
No woman should feel like it’s too daunting to go travelling, whether on her own or with others. Stephanie Elizondo Griest gives 10 tips from her new book 100 Places Every Woman Should Go to help turn those travel dreams into reality
The Lonely Planet Story – Tony and Maureen Wheeler: Book Review
The founders of Lonely Planet have written their autobiography, reflecting on over 30 years spent travelling the world and writing guidebooks to help others follow in their footsteps
Phra Farang: An English Monk in Thailand
What would possess a middle aged English businessman to give up his wealthy, comfortable lifestyle in London and become a Buddhist monk living in one of the poorest districts of Thailand? In Phra Farang (Thai for “Western monk”), Phra Peter Pannapadipo, formerly Mr Peter Robinson, tries to explain what led him to such a radical change and what life as a Buddist monk is Thailand is like.
Ballardian Bangkok
J. G. Ballard is one of the great British post-war writers, with a unique post-industrial aesthetic to his literary imagination. It’s even generated its own adjective – “Ballardian”. Seen through the lens of Ballard’s work, Bangkok has its own distinctive Ballardian moments…
Secret Histories: Finding George Orwell in A Burmese Teashop – Emma Larkin
Ostensibly an attempt to retrace the physical origins of George Orwell’s novel Burmese Days, Secret Histories is actually a superbly concise and deeply scary history lesson in the fate of pre and post-colonial Myanmar.
Angkor: Heart Of An Asian Empire
A small pocket book from art publishers Thames And Hudson provides a dazzling visual introduction to Angkor’s history that’s easy to understand and quick to read
Bootleg Books in Cambodia and Vietnam
Book piracy is big business in South East Asia, with an eclectic range of counterfeit novels, travel guides and history books all on offer to backpackers looking for an illicit bargain
