108 Beloved Objects [PAPERBACK]

Jeff Greenwald is the author of eight books, including Shopping for Buddhas (now in its 25th Anniversary edition) , The Size of the World (for which he created the first Internet travel blog) and Snake Lake. His tales and essays appear in many print and online publications. During his 45-year writing career he has profiled a full spectrum of global luminaries, including the Dalai Lama, Grace Slick, Paul Bowles, and William Shatner. Adventures at home and in more than 100 foreign lands have provided rich material for his storytelling career, and his spoken word tales have been featured at The Moth and on NPR's Snap Judgment.. His acclaimed one-man show, "Strange Travel Suggestions," premiered in San Francisco in 2003. Jeff is also the Executive Director of Ethical Traveler, a non-profit dedicated to human rights and environmental protection. Jeff's most recent books include Out of Nothing: Conversations with Larry Harvey (2019) and The Nine Gifts, co-authored with Christine Marie Mason.

We live surrounded by the objects we've acquired - in our everyday lives, as gifts, and during our travels. But why are these objects important to us? Why do we hold on to them? Mainly, for the memories they recall: stories of adventure, connection, friendship, love, and loss. After a 40-year career as a travel journalist, author Jeff Greenwald (Shopping for Buddhas and The Size of the World) tells the tales of 108 of his beloved objects-before letting them go. This beautiful and unusual photo-memoir is divided into six realms-Travel, Gifts, Love, Earth Moon & Stars, Endings, and Spirit-with 18 "flash non-fiction" chapters in each. The total number of objects is 108, a number considered spiritually significant in Hindu and Buddhist cultures (there are also 108 stitches on a baseball). Photography by tribal art dealer Zena Kruzick.