Asian Trail Mix features 12 essays which have been called "gorgeously rendered," relating on and off trail spontaneity and chance encounters with fascinating characters in an assortment of exotic Asian locales.
For many, the urge to travel is instinctual, woven into the very fabric of our being. Thrills of exploring exotic cultures and thus vibrant, diverse lifestyles, and engaging with little-known traditions, ignites a passion for discovery that is both exhilarating and transformative. Traveling introduces a sense of adventure and chance into our lives, breaking the monotony of everyday routine.
And if you are in a small group or flying solo as Madeen does, independence breeds growth, especially for a writer with a voice that's more than a language function but the sum totality of experiences and means of expression. Madeen takes you there. Yet, despite this deep-seated desire, traveling today is a logistical labyrinth, filled with complexities and challenges that can overshadow the joy of exploration.
Enter this backpacked travelogue. Understand, or rather deep-down sense with the turning of each essay's page your vibing with the wanderlust, a vicarious fulfillment of being there -- entirely void of delays, cancellations and atrocious costs for a miserable airline seat likened to time in a dentist’s chair.
Asian Trail Mix is an exuberant celebration of travel that transcends simple travel writing. With its soulful prose and intimate storytelling, it beckons readers not only to observe but to connect and reflect as in rereading charged passages and lively quotes. For anyone with wanderlust in their heart, this collection is a delectable treat that will linger long after the last precious page is turned, and those earmarked gone back to.
The ebook version of Asian Trail Mix will be available to the public at no charge January 9 through January 11 on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-Madeen/author/B08VGRNJVW?.
This bestselling ebook scales down the sprawl of Asia by focusing on the unique and revelatory in gemmy prose. Including fresh looks at Japan, Madeen’s ambitious travels include Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
Readers will see up close and personal the razzmatazz of novice monks at play in northern Laos, the bonding with hustling pedicab drivers in Ho Chi Minh City, the rainforests blazed on gutsy treks across Borneo and Thailand's Elephant Island and novel things Japanese. Served up nice and spicy, Asian Trail Mix is slathered across 12 rocking-it essays plus a tall tale at its glorious ending, making for a baker's dozen of sumptuousness.
In a review for 'Asian Trail Mix', one reader said, "The writing is lush and emotive. It contains images and turns of phrase that will stay with you." Another said, "'Professor Madeen has a knack for taking one into depths of not only things Japanese but also several -- ever burgeoning in popularity — Southeast Asian countries while introducing fascinating customs and unique, fleshed out characters. Five stars!"
Another stated, "The author focuses on subjects of local interest at each of the intervening destinations and equally captivating is how he bravely gets there. An American based in Japan, he has a writer’s eye for detail and is quite adept at capturing local sights, sounds, smells, and the feel of rain falling in sheets and vibrant characters in all their rounded forms. Throughout he proves to convey, up close and personal, impressions as an experienced traveler with a literary background and sensibility."
Eric Madeen writes cross-genre but terms himself as unclassifiable. He is the author of several books:
'Water Drumming In The Soul' - a fiery tale set in steamy equatorial Africa, Peace Corps volunteer David Fields is on mission: to build a medical dispensary in a village where spells are cast on enemies and fear of a witch doctor reign. David seldom has his bearings – cultural or geographical – and must fight a cocktail of tropical maladies as well as social taboos as he throws himself into work. Until... he meets Assam. Captivated by her water drumming, her playing the stream as a drum, David is drawn to her early on and becomes the hunter captured by the game. And what a rollicking game of love it is - with a tension or excitement between them that never dissipates, … until the haunting end. Notable is that this novel is shelved in the Permanent Collection of Books by Peace Corps Writers in The Library of Congress … and readers’ souls.
‘Tokyo-ing!’ - This is an apt Madeen neologism for this trio of tales chiming with anyone even slightly interested in Asia’s or rather many would say the world's most dynamic megalopolis and its glazing of layers – be they cultural or taking-wing exuberant. Madeen does deep dives in three fascinating directions and voices, including the persona in first-person female. Then doesn’t let readers come up for air because they don’t want to -- until the delicious end.
‘Tennis Clubbed, Snubbed and Rubbity-Dub Dubbed’ - In historically rich Yokohama, where Captain Perry and his Black Ships cracked open Japan, the wicked shiver of the tennis snub in the postmodern present pits David Adams against K: a puffed-up xenophobic tyrant who rules over the courts of a club that has as its anthem, ironically, the promotion of international friendship. Witty and transformative on and off court with the latter having Madeen, as 30+ year permanent resident, peering deeply and hilariously into the depths of Japanese university, where he was fortunate to spend the lion's share of his tenured career while literarily transcribing it in a back-and-forth volleying in his third novel Tennis Clubbed.
Eric Madeen is available for media interviews and can be reached at ericsan@gol.com. All of his books are available at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-Madeen/author/B08VGRNJVW?. More vital information is available at his website at https://ericmadeen.com.
About Eric Madeen:
Eric Madeen is an associate professor of modern literature at Tokyo City University and an adjunct professor at Keio University. He's an award-winning author of six books, and his writing has been published widely -- in Time, Asia Week, The East, Daily Yomiuri, Tokyo Journal, Kyoto Journal, Metropolis, Mississippi Review, ANA's inflight magazine Wingspan, Peace Corps Worldwide, Japanophile, Yomimono, The Pretentious Idea, Tombstone Epitaph, several anthologies, academic journals, therein his seminal essay "Under Western and Eastern Eyes" jointly published by the Ministry of Education of the Western Federation, Russia, and the Joseph Conrad Foundation, USA, and so on.
Madeen has been featured in several radio interviews (12 in the USA and 2 in Japan) and various print media. He once made his living copywriting for then-world's largest ad agency Dentsu for clients as diverse as Mazda, Subaru, Canon, Konica, Nikko Hotels International and Sony.
He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Francophone Gabon, Africa, where he built a primary school complex in an equatorial village surrounded by rainforest, a mind-blowing experience which inspired his first book.
Contact:
Eric Madeen
https://ericmadeen.com
ericsan@gol.com
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