Custodians of Wonder

September 15, 2024
Stein, journalist and editor for BBC Travel, profiles 10 people who may be the last to carry on traditions of their cultures. In Mali, Sweden, Peru, Italy, India, Taiwan, England, Cuba, Japan, and Germany, these custodians of heritage explain what they do and their concerns for the future. Usually, the art is learned from the previous generation; the djeli (griot or "living history book") of the Mali Empire, for example, is the twenty-seventh generation descendant of the original djeli. Sometimes, as with the German postal worker who is the historian of the Brautigamseiche, or Bridegroom's Oak, custodians are self taught. Stein approaches each person and tradition with respect. Area histories are woven into the narrative, providing essential background to understanding what will be lost if these traditions are not carried on. "I am hoping to awaken people to something deep and beautiful they may otherwise never know about," he writes--and he succeeds. A mix of travel, history, craft, and anthropology, this insightful book will especially delight armchair travelers and those interested in the diversity of the world.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 30, 2024
In this vibrant debut travelogue, BBC Travel journalist Stein crisscrosses the globe to spotlight 10 “cultural marvels on the edge of disappearance” and the people charged with preserving them. Subjects include Balla Kouyate, a Malian djeli, or bard, who uses the balafon, a wind instrument, to perform “national epics recall family genealogies”; Paola Abraini, who wakes daily at 7 a.m. to make su filindeu, “the rarest pasta in the world,” from a 300-year-old recipe passed down by her Sardinian family; and Taiwanese artist Yan Jhen-fa, one of the last people to hand-paint film posters. A particularly fascinating chapter details how Peru’s Victoriano Arizapana maintains a woven suspension bridge dating from the Inca empire; once a year, he oversees thousands of villagers as they prepare braided grass cable to rebuild the bridge, offering a blessing to “Pachamama (Mother Earth)” to honor the “Incan bond with nature.” Stein’s reverent prose conveys the awe-inspiring nature of these arcane cultural traditions without exoticizing them (“There’s something truly singular about witnessing someone do something that nearly nobody else in the world knows how to do. It’s like watching a secret”). This is worth seeking out.

Starred review from November 15, 2024
The eccentric, the cryptic, and the heartwarming find a place in this collection of cultural marvels. In a world that at times seems to be plummeting into the future without much thought, it can be enlightening to take the occasional glance backward. This is the premise of Stein's book, in which the BBC journalist embarks on a globetrotting journey to find cultural traditions both obscure and wonderful. In the mountains of Sardinia, he samples su filindeu, also known as "the threads of God," a type of pasta so rare and delicate that only three women in the world know how to make it. In Peru, he meets the last man capable of weaving the grass bridges that tied together the Incan empire. In a corner of Wales, he speaks to a beekeeper who maintains the custom of "telling the bees" the news of the day, which stretches from major events to local gossip. The bees seem to appreciate it. Just as touching is his visit to a tree, deep in a German forest, that has its own mailing address: necessary, as generations of people have written to it in an attempt to find love and happiness. Perhaps his strangest encounter is with a family in India that, for centuries, has been making mirrors from a secret metal alloy. The mirrors are reputed to reveal the true persona of anyone brave enough to look into one. These are remarkable narratives, and Stein explores them with due respect. "They remind us that culture is born slowly through a million tiny, personal moments," he writes. "When one seemingly insignificant wonder fades, an irretrievable part of our humanity vanishes with it." Stein's affectionate memoir mixes traditions, rituals, and good food, adding up to a thoroughly enjoyable read.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from December 20, 2024

BBC travel journalist Stein gives readers a treat for the mind and the senses as he crosses the world to document the work of 10 people who are maintaining some of the world's oldest cultural traditions. In Peru, he talks to the dedicated inheritor of maintaining a grass suspension bridge. He journeys to a corner of Sardinia to meet a woman devoted to making su filindeu, a rare, hand-crafted pasta. He goes to a mountain village in India that is home to creators of mirrors that purport to reflect one's true self. Whether he is describing the timeworn tradition of talking to bees in a far-flung corner of England, the socially conscious lector reading to workers in a Cuban cigar factory, the tradition of using wooden casks to produce the best soy sauce in Japan, or the night watchman whose regular soundings give security and comfort to villagers in Ystad, Sweden, Stein lovingly describes the history, traditions, and dignity of these remarkable keepers of age-old customs. VERDICT Beautifully written, well researched, and unusual in breadth, Stein's book ensures that these custom keepers will not be forgotten.--Ellen Gilbert

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.