A deeply original and provocative book about the Buddha's life and his influence throughout history, told in the form of the author's search to understand the Buddha's relevance in a world where class oppression and religious violence are rife, and where poverty and terrorism cast a long, constant shadow -- Book jacket.

For forty years V.S. Naipaul has been traveling and, through his writing, creating one of the most wide-ranging and sustained meditations on our world. Now, for the first time, his finest shorter pieces of reflection and reportage are collected in one volume. With an abiding faith in the redemptive power of modernity balanced by a sense of wonder about the past, Naipaul has explored an astonishing variety of societies and peoples through the many-sided...

Four experts describe intriguing insights regarding the overlap of language and culture, from the global proliferation of sign languages, to the idea of language as an expression of identity. Featured are Carol Padden, Prof. of Communication and specialist in sign-languages (UC San Diego), David Belllos, Prof. of French Literature and Comparative Literature (Princeton University), Michael Berry, Prof. of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies (UCLA)...