As a travel writer and essayist, Pico Iyer nearly always hits the spot with creative brio, flashes of insight, and cultural wisdom from the four corners of the earth. This book draws together some of his best work, much of it previously published in "Time" magazine where he is a contributing editor. The titlepiece essay focuses on the polycultural writing abilities of poet Derek Walcott, fiction writer Michael Ondaatje, and essayist Richard Rodriguez. Iyer is an expert at drawing out the mystery of exotic places such as the African city of Lalibela where religion reigns, the Potala Palace in Llasa which is now "a kind of haunted house," and the streets of Bombay where pandemonium is always in the air. Iyer's literary purview is equally impressive with enlightening pieces on Norman Lewis, "a collector of curiosities"; Peter Matthiessen's books "about men alone with nature and a spark of divinity"; and Don DeLillo, "a connoisseur of fear." Iyer hits high stride in this superb collection with essays on Henry Miller, "Silence," and "The Contagion of Innocence."