Returning to his native Burma-a country fraught with political upheaval and laden with superstition-Burmese American Kenneth Wong faced the cultural specters of his own past and the spirit of a land trapped in time. Sealed off from the outside world, first by an oppressive military regime's isolationism and then by economic sanctions, Burma lives on like a lingering ghost of its colonial past. This beautiful and intriguing country is revealed through the eyes of an expatriate battling his conflicting national, cultural, ideological, ancestral, and ethnic identities. In the tradition of George Orwell, W. Somerset Maugham, and Paul Theroux, Wong portrays Burma as an exotic place that invites, frightens, teases, and haunts citizens and visitors alike with its unique mixture of ill-kept Edwardian structures, pockmarked English mansions, and glittering Buddhist temples. The courage, humour, and perseverance of the Burmese people and their endearing yet mysterious way of life are revealed in this moving account of a man rediscovering his culture.
