Zoroasters Children

Description

Longlisted for the 2016 RBC Taylor PrizeBringing together the best of Marius Kociejowskis travel writing,Zoroasters Childrensnags on the borderline between dream and meaning, offering unusual glimpses of some of the places, exotic or otherwise, the author has been. Attracted to societys outcastsas it is these, he argues, which point towards an underground of conformity that will not contain themKociejowksi offers in these essays glimpses of locales as diverse and seemingly divergent as Prague, Tunisia, Moscow, Aleppo and Toronto, among others. By turns empathetic and virtuosic, and always on the lookout for the deeper meaning seeded inside language, the essays inZoroasters Childrenevince the deep absorption in a people and a place which are the hallmark of all great travel writers.PRAISE FORZOROASTERS CHILDRENPoet and travel writer Kociejowski journeys widely and writes to describe the world and make deeper inquiries into human nature Highly recommended for its poetic presentation of experiences in different locations, this account is inspired by the past and a plethora of emotions.Library Journal, Starred Review[Kociejowski is] one of the most evocative travel writers to emerge in the last decade He may well be peerless All the essays feature a laser-like focus on individuals and a relative indifference to their surroundings In city after cityPrague, Moscow, TorontoKociejowski does the same thing: encounters people, pays extraordinary attention to them, and captures them indelibly.MacleansTravel for Kociejowski is a metaphor for life movement toward an uncertain and possibly non-existent destination, without a map or compass.Patrick Kurp,Anecdotal EvidencePRAISE FOR MARIUS KOCIEJOWSKIKociejowski draws on all the aspects of his life in these engaging, idiosyncratic personal essays [that] proffer the reader equal measures of autobiography, insight and quirky charm.Michael Dirda,The Washington PostHere the charm is deep, the splendour unlaboured; the colours of history, reckoned afresh, saturate singular people, in whom passion is lucid againhere is one who collects his extraordinary resources, and strides.Christopher MiddletonIt is a testament to the power of this superb book that I felt not despondency, but elation.Adam Thorpe,The Times Literary SupplementTreasures are revealed with a formidable erudition, and at their best they gleam with an enameled splendour.Ken Babstock,The Globe and MailKociejowski writes beautifully unusual, poetic, and thought-provoking.Library Journal