IyerвЂ™s argument is an engaging amalgam of memoir, reportage, and literary essay. 'A bustling paean to the stationary life. вЂњ wonderful read in its entirety.вЂќ Source: Brain Pickings вЂњ cool drink of water, in book formвЂќ Source: People Rather than reading it quickly and filing it, readers will likely slow down to meet its pace and might continue carrying it around as a reminder.' Source: Kirkus (starred) 'This book isn't a meditation guide or a New-Age tract but rather a celebration of the age-old practice of sitting with no goal in mind and no destination in sight. An essayist for Time since 1986, he also publishes regularly in HarperвЂ™s, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and many other publications across the globe. He is the author of numerous books about crossing cultures, among them Video Night in Kathmandu, The Lady and the Monk, and The Global Soul. Pico Iyer is a British-born essayist and novelist long based in both California and Japan. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. This lyrical and inspiring book expands on a new idea, offering a way forward for all those feeling affected by the frenetic pace of our modern world. In 2013, Pico Iyer gave a blockbuster TED Talk. Ultimately, Iyer shows that, in this age of constant movement and connectedness, perhaps staying in one place is a more exciting prospect, and a greater necessity than ever before. The Art of Stillness paints a picture of why so many-from Marcel Proust to Mahatma Gandhi to Emily Dickinson-have found richness in stillness. Growing trends like observing an вЂњInternet SabbathвЂќ-turning off online connections from Friday night to Monday morning-highlight how increasingly desperate many of us are to unplug and bring stillness into our lives. These aren't New Age fads so much as ways to rediscover the wisdom of an earlier age. He reflects that this is perhaps the reason why many people-even those with no religious commitment-seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or seeking silent retreats. Iyer also draws on his own experiences as a travel writer to explore why advances in technology are making us more likely to retreat. In The Art of Stillness-a TED Books release-Iyer investigate the lives of people who have made a life seeking stillness: from Matthieu Ricard, a Frenchman with a PhD in molecular biology who left a promising scientific career to become a Tibetan monk, to revered singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who traded the pleasures of the senses for several years of living the near-silent life of meditation as a Zen monk. ThereвЂ™s never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still. 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 ultimate adventure? Because in our madly accelerating world, our lives are crowded, chaotic and noisy. A follow up to Pico IyerвЂ™s essay вЂњThe Joy of Quiet,вЂќ 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.

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