The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home

by Pico Iyer

Book Overview

From the acclaimed author of Video Nights in Kathmandu comes this intriguing new book that deciphers the cultural ramifications of globalization and the rising tide of worldwide displacement.

Beginning in Los Angeles International Airport, where town life--shops, services, sociability--is available without a town, Pico Iyer takes us on a tour of the transnational village our world has become. From Hong Kong, where people actually live...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679776117
• ISBN13: 9780679776116
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.7" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A little too much?

Iyer is an entertaining writer. That's why I read him. This book, although not excellent, is good (I like "The Lady and the Monk" better though). I really enjoyed the last chapter of the book about his experiences as a foreigner in Japan. I could relate because I too, lived as a foreigner in Japan. But the remainder of the book came across to me as a little bit too much. In other words - exaggerated and overdone. But this is not a worthless book. It's merit comes in remembering that these are the author's ideas and experiences - not everyone else's.

Smart, humane , edgy and I couldn't stop reading

I love this book. I'm sending it to all my relatives who, like the author, are modern post-ethnics with no true sense of ethnic allegiance. His insights are quite droll: a person with no deep national loyalty may be staunchly loyal to one airline. And some huge portion of all airmiles are earned on the ground! He captures the absurd, the sad, the hopeful aspects of being a bourgeois post-ethnic in today's climate. I take my hat off to this man for writing a book that can be said to speak for an entire generation. That may sound audacious but those are the feelings he inspires in one reader! The book is not only about travel. You can be a reluctant traveller (like me) and still enjoy his narrative. The great thing about this book -- it can be read out of order. I read the Toronto chapter first. I read the Empire chapter next. I read the first chapter last. It works. This is a book I will re-read. It has some errors, which other reviews here have rightly pointed out, but in total it's a...good read and its insights are substantial.

Insightful, Interesting and Colourful

Awesome Book! As I read the Global Soul, I felt as if my attitudes towards the globe were being reshaped and broadened at a rapid pace that I found helpful and enjoyable. It was almost as if the molecules in my brain were being given music to dance by. Iyer can write in a way that keeps the reader interested and challenged. I was engaged in the book from the very first page. As I read the Global Soul, I found myself intrigued by the fast-paced insights that Iyer shares with his readers. He has the ability to view his experiences in the world with a disarming innocence that is open-minded and wise. He blends insights with quotes and references from the worlds great thinkers. His perspectives are rounded and compassionate, while being revealing and helpful. I highly recommend this book!