Alison Wright

Books: A Simple Monk

edited by Tom Morgan, photos by Alison WrightNew World Library Buy this bookHis Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has captured the world's heart with his extraordinary wisdom and humility in the face of China's brutal decades-long occupation of Tibet. This dynamic collection includes impressionistic essays about the Tibetan leader by Diki Tsering, his mother; China scholar and journalist Orville Schell; and travel writer Pico Iyer; as well as an interview with His Holiness by famed monologist Spalding Gray. A stunning visual biography that marries full-color images with insightful essays. A Simple Monk is published in cooperation with New York's Tibet House, which will receive a portion of the proceeds. Award-winning photojournalist Alison Wright, who lived with exiled Tibetans for over a decade, was afforded exceptional access to the government-in-exile for this book.This "visual biography" of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama blends gorgeous photography with text that is surprisingly sharp. While chronicling the experiences of the Tibetan community in exile, Wright relies heavily on vibrant colors such as red, orange and monastic saffron to bring these images to life. She offers illuminating portraits of the Dalai Lama himself, as well as cinema verité-style photographs of ordinary Tibetans at play and worship. Mercifully, she omits hackneyed images of His Holiness posing with this or that Hollywood celebrity.This restrained attitude toward the Buddha-loving glitterati is wittily reinforced in Orville Schell's essay, "Searching for the Dalai Lama: Dispirited Stars Find Absolution in Buddhism." Schell discusses Richard Gere's two decades as a Buddhist practitioner and then gives the slip to other stars such as Steven Seagal, who apparently sees Buddhism as just another vehicle for selfaggrandizement. As a whole, the book demonstrates a refreshing lack of awe for His Holiness, although it is always deeply respectful. An early chapter from Diki Tsering's book Dalai Lama, “My Son,” presents a mother's surprisingly matter-of-fact, unsentimental reminiscences of the Tibetan leader's infancy and boyhood, while Columbia University professor Robert Thurman takes the Dalai Lama's mission into the next age with "Hope for the Third Millennium," excerpted from his Inner Revolution.For coffee-table fare, this is intelligent stuff. Stunning full-color photography and well-chosen text make this 10" book stand out among the many titles about the Dalai Lama. Advertising in Buddhist and New Age publications should help move the book's 50,000-copy print run. It is a main selection of the One Spirit Book Club. -- Publisher's Weekly