A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants

Six years ago at the age of twenty-one, Jaed Muncharoen Coffin, a half-Thai American man, left New England's privileged Middlebury College to be ordained as a Buddhist monk in his mother's native village of Panomsarakram--thus fulfilling a familial obligation. While addressing the notions of displacement, ethnic identity, and cultural belonging, A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants chronicles his time at the temple that rain season--receiving alms in the streets in saffron robes; bathing in the canals; learning to meditate in a mountaintop hut; and falling in love with Lek, a beautiful Thai woman who comes to represent the life he can have if he stays. Part armchair travel, part coming-of-age story, this debut work transcends the memoir genre and ushers in a brave new voice in American nonfiction.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 01/08/2008
ISBN: 9780306815263
Pages: 205
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 0.50d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 12/10/2007 pg. 50
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2007 pg. 1274
Booklist 03/15/2008 pg. 15
Multicultural Review 09/01/2008 pg. 58
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2009 pg. 70