A Chant To Soothe Wild Elephants

Six Years Ago At The Age Of Twenty-one, Jaed Muncharoen Coffin, A Half-thai American Man, Left England's Privileged Middlebury College To Be Ordained As A Buddhist Monk In His Mother's Native Village Of Panomsarakram--thus Fulfilling A Familial Obligation. While Addressing The Notions Of Displacement, Ethnic Identity, And Cultural Belonging, A Chant To Soothe Wild Elephantschronicles His Time At The Temple That Rain Season--receiving Alms In The Streets In Saffron Robes; Bathing In The Canals; Learning To Meditate In A Mountaintop Hut; And Falling In Love With Lek, A Beautiful Thai Woman Who Comes To Represent The Life He Can Have If He Stays. Part Armchair Travel, Part Coming-of-age Story, This Debut Work Transcends The Memoir Genre And Ushers In A Brave Voice In American Nonfiction.