Armchair Traveller: Pico Iyer Takes Us to Asia Through Books

Tray tables up, seats in the upright position, we’re going on a trip. This summer The World will be taking you around the globe, and you don’t even need to leave home.

We’re inviting authors to share books that have taken them on journeys.

Pico Iyer is a writer, and it’s fair to say, a world traveler. His classic book Video Night in Kathmandu has taken readers on a journey throughout Asia since it first came out decades ago.

His most recent book The Man Within My Head explores his relationship with another classic writer and traveler, Graham Greene.

Here’s the list of books that Iyer recommended to take you on a trip this summer without ever leaving your armchair:

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Take a trip to Bombay in 1947.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.
Now jump ahead nearly half a century to this nonfiction book and get intimate portrait from the slums of Mumbai.

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen.
A classic trip into the Himalayas, Matthiessen’s in search for the mysterious snow leopard and coming to terms with the death of his wife.

You Gotta Have Wa by Robert Whiting
Baseball and Japan. A glimpse into the all-American past time as you’ve never seen it before.

The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer
Both travel narrative and reflection on another great writer and traveler Graham Greene.