ISBN: 0-88739-240-7
256 pp.
Size: 6 x 9
Pub Date: 8/2000
Paperback Original
Price: $14.95
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Phantom Voices in Tibet
June Calender
Tibet has captured the imagination of Western visitors for centuries. In recent years it has come to be known for its fight for independence after China's occupation in the 1950s. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and political leader-in-exile, is all but a household name. Tibet has become a mecca for travelers and those seeking spiritual enlightenment; despite continuing political strife, this once "forbidden" destination is now the domain of both Chinese soldiers and package tours. In this insightful, witty travelogue, June Calender takes her readers through two trips she made to Tibet in 1995 and 1996. What makes her account unique are her guides: along with her real-life traveling companions, Calender is joined by an assortment of historical characters, from the Austrian mountaineer who spent seven years living in Tibet in the forties, to a Tibetan noblewoman, from a French woman who traversed Tibet by foot early in the century, to a long-forgotten American who was one of the first to witness the internal workings of Tibet's monasteries. Phantom Voices in Tibet is a weave of history and the present, as the past bears witness to the changes facing Tibet today.
"We eight Americans had come to explore. Our reasons for coming were various and mostly amorphous. We had high expectations, romantic ideas, and very few facts about Tibet-we were typical tourists."
Bio: JUNE CALENDER was born on a farm in southern Indiana and received her BA at Indiana University. After living many places, she now lives in New York City. A playwright and novelist, Phantom Voices in Tibet is her first nonfiction book.
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